I've Found You
by DreaDreamer
Summary: Sakura had to get away from all the painful memories of Syaoran. But when she moves in with a room mate whos name is Syaoran Li, Sakura begins to think she's losing it.
1. I've Found You

Hello-lo-lo!--- (in the words of kero ) My name is Drea and this is my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy it! Flames or Compliments or Advice will be heard at DreaDreamy@aol.com. You can also IM me on AOL. Okay? Okay. So here goes. I hope you enjoy! (p.s. in the first part it may not seem like Syaoran is gonna be in this, but he is! OH my gosh he is!)  
  
BACKGROUND INFO:  
Sakura is 18. She is gonna go to Hong Kong for College. Okay!  
  
Now. You and I both know I do not own Cardcaptors. (sigh) This, unfortunately, is a stupid story some stupid little girl wrote. Well, now that I'm nice and depressed lets start.  
  
I've Found You  
By DreaDreamer  
  
Sakura Kinomoto loved her family. And that's why she had to leave. She couldn't bear to hurt them anymore. Like a few weeks ago:  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Everything had been going great. Sakura had been trying to be happy for her father and brother. She was laughing, but she wasn't truly happy. And she couldn't help it, but she started to cry, to sob. Her father had stopped laughing and her brother had sighed exasperatedly and started to say mean things like: "Why she always had to ruin everything", and, "Why can't you just get over it?"  
  
She ran up the stairs crying. Her father started yelling at Toya, Toya yelled back. Toya left, angrily slamming the front door. Her father had stared at the door. Then sighed and turned back to his room, closing the door quietly.   
  
Sakura was on top of the stairs, her head against the banister, tears silently sliding down her cheek...   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
SNAP  
  
She closed her last suitcase and took it downstairs.  
  
She went up one last time to look at her room. Her room for all of her childhood. She sighed and closed the door.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Downstairs, Tomoyo was talking quietly to Fuji-taka.   
  
They looked up when she walked in. Both smiled at her. She smiled back.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?",asked Fuji-taka.  
  
"Dad, it's gonna be hard enough saying goodbye now. It'd be even harder if you came.", Sakura replied.  
  
"(sigh) Very well.", he said standing up to hug his daughter.  
  
"I love you Daddy", she whispered.  
  
"I love you too. Are you sure you need to leave?", he asked.  
  
She dislodged herself from his arms and looked him in the eyes.   
"Dad, this is something I need to do. I love you, but I think I need a change of scenery. It'd be better for both of us. Now, I love you, and tell Toya I said goodbye. Yuki too." She smiled at him.  
  
He smiled back. "okay."  
  
Toya had moved in with Yuki three years ago. They were roommates and went to the same college.  
  
Sakura got into Tomoyo's car, and blew kisses and waved until she could no longer see her father in sight.  
  
Turning back around she realized Tomoyo hadn't said anything the whole time. Tomoyo was just staring at the road, driving.  
  
"Tomoyo?", Sakura asked tentatively.   
  
"Oh Sakura!", Tomoyo wailed letting go of the steering wheel and wrapping her arms around Sakura's neck.   
  
"TOMOYO!", Sakura yelled grabbing onto the wheel while a car beeped at them.   
  
"I'm sorry Sakura", Tomoyo said gaining control, over herself and the car. "It's just I'm gonna miss you so much!"  
  
"Tomoyo. Don't worry. I'm going to be just fine. The school, I heard, is great. One of the best."  
  
"Oh, I just feel like I should be going with you! You're going to be all alone in that big city, and in that big school!"  
  
"Tomoyo! You've been admitted into one of the best schools of fashion design in Japan! How could you think like that? Besides, I'm not going to be alone. I'm going to be with-", Sakura stopped to dig in her pocket for a piece of paper. "Ranzaki Lau", Sakura said in a mocking voice, "He enjoys baseball and physics. Two things I find impossibly boring." Sakura looked up smiling.  
  
Tomoyo smiled at her. "Are you absolutely positive this is the right thing? I mean I'm sure a change of scenery is good, but...to Hong Kong?"  
  
Sakura stopped smiling and looked out the window. "It's a great school." Was all she said.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At the airport, Sakura had a little party waiting for her. Chiharu, Yamizaki, Rika, and the other friends she had acquired were all there bearing little goodbye gifts.  
After what had happened to his master six years ago, Kero could no longer stand to see Sakura always so sorrowful. He had moved to Tomoyo's drawer, but he would visit often daily. Sakura was hurt when Tomoyo said he couldn't be there for he wouldn't be able to keep his teddy bear shape for long without jumping on Sakura. But she just nodded her head, understanding.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
After many tears, and a lot of hugs, Sakura boarded the plane and looked at all of her gifts. Slippers, a robe, comic books. She smiled picking up one of the comic books.   
  
'From Yamizaki, no doubt.', thought Sakura.  
  
The stewardesses had started to go around, passing out breakfast. Sakura cleared her little area and waited when all of a sudden she heard something bump above her head. She looked up, and stared at the ceiling.   
  
Bump. Bump bumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbump  
  
'What the hell?', Sakura thought taking off her seat belt, ignoring the blinking sign telling her not to.  
People were starting to stare at her in the aisles whispering, and pointing. She looked up at them and glared.  
  
She opened the compartment with her bags in it and saw a little ball of yellow bouncing around the compartment.   
  
"Eep!", Sakura screamed as she closed the door quickly, seeing the something was flying at her head. She felt it bang against the door and heard a muffled noise that sounded a lot like, "ow". She looked around her. Everything had gone silent, and everyone on the whole plane was staring at her. Sakura laughed nervously.   
"The present I got for my nephew is malfunctioning.", she laughed.   
  
Silence. "Oohhh!", the crowd of people said together.  
  
As the noise of the plane came back, Sakura turned back to the compartment and took in a breath. She opened it to see a dazed stuffed animal rubbing its head.  
  
Sakura grabbed it and brought it down hurriedly to her seat.  
  
"Kero! What are you doing you little imbecile?", Sakura whispered furiously to the stuffed animal look-alike.  
  
"Ow. Well, I'll tell you if you let go of me! Okay?", Kero said gasping for air.  
  
"Oh. Sorry.", Sakura let go of him and he fell in her lap gasping.  
  
"Right. Well it's nice to see you. eh heh heh!"   
  
"Kero! Why are you here?"  
  
"Well, first of all, this wasn't all my idea. Tomoyo made me. And it also helped that I too wanted to come with you and see the sights in Honk Kong. Second of all, Tomoyo and I decided I should come because we would be out of our minds with worry if you didn't let one of us come! And since you wouldn't have let me come had I asked you, I had to sneak on! So you see this is all your fault, if you think about it."  
  
"MY FAULT?", Sakura screamed wrapping her hands around the little beasts head.  
  
Kero had suddenly gone lifeless in her hands. She looked over and saw, once again, herself being stared at by the people of the plane. Sakura sighed. 'This is going to be a long trip.', she thought.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura looked down the hall of the apartment complex. After a long trip, she was happy to be on solid ground again. Kero was asleep in her backpack. After eating all her food, she wasn't surprised. She hadn't really cared, considering she wasn't hungry, and the 'waffles' looked like floppy pieces of cardboard.  
She started to walk down the neat and clean hall. The doors were white with silver numbers. The wallpaper was light blue. It was very pretty.  
  
Sakura walked down the hall reading off the numbers till her eyes came to settle on 320. All the way in the back of the hall.   
  
Sakura took a deep breath and held it, and raised her hand to knock.   
  
She choked on the breath she had been holding as someone suddenly opened the door.  
Sakura coughed and gasped, bending down.   
  
"Um...are you okay?", someone asked.  
  
"fine.", Sakura said finally getting some breath back in her lungs. "I'm fine. Sorry."  
  
Sakura stood up to only need to bend down again. But she stayed straight and stared at the face in front of her with very wide eyes. The face stared back , a glare was in his eyes. Brown eyes.  
  
"A-are you, um, Ra-,"Sakura stuttered, looking hurriedly for the paper in her pocket.  
  
"Ranzaki Lau?", the guy finished for her. Sakura nodded her head. She couldn't talk again. She just stared at the person.  
  
"Y-yes. Sorry, are you him?", She asked.   
  
"No. Come in.", he said turning away from her and going into the apartment.   
  
"Um. Am I in the right place?", She didn't like the way this person made her feel. She had grown a good strong cover for herself. She never let anyone make her feel so clumsy, or awkward as this guy made her feel.  
  
"Yes. Ran didn't pass the entrance exam", the guy was stirring something in a cup while talking to her, "The people up at the school passed out the housing assignments before students actually took the test, so a lot of changes are being made. Have you already took the test?" He raised his eyes to look at her. "Are you going to come in?"  
  
"Uh, y-yes", Sakura realized she was still standing in the hallway. She blushed and came in closing the door. "Yes to both. I took it in Ja-" Sakura stopped abruptly. The guy was staring at her, still glaring but not as much. He looked more like he was surprised. His eyes looked like they were searching her for something. Sakura suddenly felt very awkward, and uncomfortable.   
  
"I-is something wrong?", Sakura asked a puzzled look on her face. The guy stared at her still. Sakura blushed again under his gaze.   
  
His eyes widened and he asked, "What's your name?"  
  
"What? Oh Sa-sa-sa-", Sakura couldn't seem to get the words out. She looked down. 'My name, my name? What's my name come on!' She thought furiously to herself.  
  
"Sakura Kinomoto..."  
  
"Yes! Yes.", Sakura laughed, "That's my name."  
  
He was reading off a paper on the refrigerator. His head snapped back to her. He stared at her again.  
'Man is this guy rude or what?', Sakura thought staring back at him. She tried not to fidget as he stared at her, so she decided to look at the guy's features. Brown hair, brown eyes, he was wearing a gray sweatshirt, and blue jeans. He was standing behind a little breakfast bar in the kitchen. She came back to look at his face. His eyes were very piercing with dark eyebrows. His hair was so messy. But it looked nice on him. It reminded her of...  
  
Sakura took in a breath and shifted uneasily under his gaze. She felt herself getting back some of her power back, and she cleared her throat.  
  
"What's your name?", she asked.  
  
He stared for a moment longer.   
  
"Syaoran Li."  
  
Drea's Notes:  
  
(Well, well, well! Oh my goodness! What has happened to Sakura that made her so sad? Is it really Syaoran? If it is why don't they recognize each other? All these questions and more will be revealed on the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed the first one, now that all the introductions and boring stuff is done, we can get to the real good stuff! Okay, until next chapter! (I hope to have the next chapter up soon and since we have a week off it probably will))  
*DreaDreamer  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. I've Found You-Chap.2

Hello again! Or welcome if this is your first time. I'll save my notes for the end, since I know your all dying to start the story!(yeah right!) I made this one longer since the last one was so short. Well, I hope you enjoy this story! Hope, hope, hope...^.^;  
  
(mumble)Idon'towncardcaptorsakuraoranycharactersaffiliatedwithit,sodon'teatmek?k.  
  
I've Found You  
Chapter 2  
By: DreaDreamer  
  
'Syaoran Li! He said his name was Syaoran Li!', Sakura thought frantically, dropping her luggage and bringing her hand up to clutch at a necklace around her neck.  
  
Her other hand had gripped the couch near her. Syaoran saw this and asked, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Fine! Where's my room?", Sakura gasped the words out.   
  
"Down the hall, by the window, on the left", Syaoran said looking at her somewhat puzzled.  
  
She ran down the hall panting, stumbling once.  
  
He stared after her, then looked down at the table and saw what Sakura hadn't.   
His knuckles were turning white from gripping the table so hard.   
'Sakura Kinomoto? Why does that name sound so familiar?', thought Syaoran letting his knuckles relax. He returned to stirring his milk. Honey milk.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura sat on her bare mattress panting, still clutching the necklace around her neck.  
  
'No! This can't be happening!', thought Sakura. 'You have medicine for this!'  
  
Her head shot up. 'Medicine! Ha!'  
  
Sakura stood up looking for her bags. She groaned and flopped back down on her bed.  
  
'My bags are in the living room with *him*!', She thought hopelessly.  
  
She sat back up and looked around her room. Light blue wallpaper, a ceiling which curved outwards. The ceiling was also light blue, and when she looked closer she realized there was a skylight right in the middle, over her bed. She smiled and looked back at the walls. She looked at the wall facing the street, and saw a big beautiful window. There was a cushy seat, and there were little knobs on the window. She went over to it, and pulled on the knobs. The window opened to a world of sound.   
  
Sakura smiled. She looked over to her right, and saw a little street with shops up and down it the whole way. Since it was Saturday, there had been a little open street market. Since it was 5:00, according to the clock on one of the buildings, the little shops and stands were closing up for the day. She looked directly in front of her.   
  
"Wow...", she breathed taking in the scene before her. There was a little park across from her window. A lot of trees were beginning to turn colors since autumn was approaching. Sakura felt one of the last warm breezes cross her face, and she smiled into it. The park was surrounded by buildings, and complexes, and businesses.   
Sakura sighed.  
  
'And now a dreary, gray winter is all I have to look forward to.', she thought.  
  
For a small while, Sakura was content just to stare out at the view before her.  
She grinned slightly.  
'But this place has surprised me. Maybe it won't be so bad after all.'  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran Li was starting to feel panicked at the sight of the wriggling back pack in the middle of the living room. At first he had thought the mumbling voices he heard were his imagination, but as he continued to look at it, he realized that movement and swearing could not possibly be all made up.  
  
Syaoran didn't know whether to go up to Sakura and ask her about it, or wait to see what it was.   
Or take a bat and beat it before it got a chance to attack him.   
  
All of a sudden a little ball of yellow bounded out of the bundle he had been in and started-flying?- around the room. Syaoran looked at it in utter disbelief.   
  
"AAAhhhhh!", someone yelled.  
  
Syaoran saw Sakura standing in the doorway, and gained enough composure to run and protect her. The little ball stopped soaring around the room and gasped at the sight of Syaoran and Sakura. It stopped in mid-air and...fell lifeless to the ground.  
  
Syaoran went over to it quickly, about to step on it. Sakura pushed him out of the way and bent down to pick up the ('stuffed animal?', thought Syaoran.) 'thing' on the ground. She went about picking up her things on the ground. Sakura looked up at Syaoran glaring. She was much different than when she had walked in.   
"Are you going to help me or not?", she asked.  
  
"Uh, yeah. I'll help.", Syaoran said numb with disbelief.  
  
Syaoran helped pick up her suitcases and began bringing them into her room.   
  
"What is that thing?", Syaoran asked pointing at the 'stuffed animal'.  
  
"Oh, um...", Sakura looked a little taken for words. "It's, a, um,....stuffed animal."  
  
"Why did it fly around?", asked Syaoran suspiciously.  
  
Sakura looked at him exasperatedly. "Duh. Batteries."  
  
Syaoran was about to ask something else when Sakura said.   
"The batteries ran out of juice. That's why he fell."  
Syaoran and Sakura stared at each other for a few seconds. Sakura started to look uncomfortable again.  
  
"So, uh, thanks.", she said.   
"Your welcome. Well, I'm gonna go to the store."  
  
He turned to go when he turned back around. "Need anything?", he asked.  
  
"No." Sakura then turned back to her things, un-packing boxes. He gave her a last once over before turning around. She was wearing a black turtleneck and jeans. Her clothes were slim-fitting and looked nice on her. Her hair was long, and she had it down her back in a long messy braid. It went down to slightly above the middle of her back. He realized he was staring when Sakura turned around to look at him.   
  
He blushed and closed the door. In the hallway Syaoran asked aloud, "I blushed?"  
  
Sakura had turned back to her things, and her eyes were wide and her breath was coming out harshly. She started ravaging through her backpack looking for her medicine. She groaned. Remembering her medicine cabinet, the phone ringing, her forgetting to clean it out.  
  
"What's wrong Sakura?", asked a little voice from her bed.   
  
"Kero! You surprised me! Nothing I'm fine." She stood up to sit next to Kero. "Does that guy look familiar to you?" , she asked Kero.  
  
"No. Wait!", Kero said.  
  
"What? What?", asked Sakura eagerly.  
  
"He looked like that big, pink ugly thing on that one video game!", said Kero laughing.  
  
"KERO!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(Well that's all for now. Haha! Just kidding! Three pages? Yeah right, even I can do better than that! Okay! Here ya go!)  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran walked out of the apartment glancing up at the window at the very top of the three story building. On the inside he saw Sakura hanging a poster of a cherry blossom tree by the head of her bed. He turned back around and kept walking to the corner store. He didn't understand why he couldn't stop thinking about her.  
  
'Well, she *is* weird.', he thought. 'Yeah that's it. She's one of the weirdest people I've ever met.' He thought ,instead, of what he needed to buy.   
  
'Milk, honey, bread", he went over a little list in his mind...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Well, Kero! That's about all I can do for now.", Said Sakura, putting in the last pushpin on her poster.  
  
"What? It's only 7:30! We still have two suitcases to go!"  
  
Sakura looked at him, her mouth open. "I've been doing all the work! You've just been sitting there!"  
  
"(ahem) I've been 'coordinating'. I have to take it easy! What if that kid walked in again? Ranzaki? Is that his name?"  
  
Sakura looked away. "Uh, yeah. I think that's it." She wasn't ready to tell him what the guy had told her, if she wasn't really believing it herself.  
  
"Listen Kero. I'm tired. Are you ready to turn in?", she asked turning back around.  
  
"You mean to sleep?! Heck no! I want to see all the sights! Tomoyo said that this town comes to life at night. She read it in a book."  
  
"Okay. Be careful, and STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!", she yelled the last words to the little hairball as he shot out the open window.   
  
Sakura walked to the window and looked out over the park, smiling. She hadn't felt this at ease in ages. She looked down the street to see a figure walking out of a store on the corner. She tensed when she saw who it was. Syaoran Li was walking down the street, back towards the apartment building. 'He *is* cute', Sakura thought to herself, dreamily. He looked up unexpectedly to see her staring at him.   
  
"Eep!" Sakura yelped. She jumped up from the seat and closed the window. She walked hurriedly out of view.  
  
Down on the street Syaoran Li was smiling to himself....  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura had had trouble sleeping for the past two years, so when sleep came to her, she had to accept it then and there or never at all.   
  
So when she had felt it kick in at 7:30, she knew she had to go to bed. Sleep was no longer her friend, especially since she had nightmares just about every time she laid down.   
  
'Well, maybe since I'm so relaxed, I'll be able to sleep peacefully.' She was surprised by how tired she felt. She hadn't even put the covers or sheets on her bed yet. She did, however, have her pajamas so she changed into them.   
  
"Oh well.", thought Sakura lying down on the bed with a peaceful sigh. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. She slipped into a calm sleep as the door to the apartment opened...  
(Drea's Notes: a lot of these end in .... I wonder why....)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As Syaoran went by Sakura's room, he saw the light was off. He stood in the hall looking at her door for a second before going into his room across the hall. He would try to ignore her as best as he could. But he couldn't seem to get her face out of his mind. Bright eyes. Bright eyes that had shone when she had first walked in.   
  
'Why is she so angry all the time?', thought Syaoran lying in bed. 'She reminds me of...well-me.'  
  
'And why does she seem so familiar?'  
  
He gazed up at the ceiling until he fell asleep, thinking about the bright green eyes of the girl across the hall.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Where am I? What is this?", I said frightened looking around me. It looked familiar. It was the park. The park with the King Penguin slide in my home town. I was laying in the grass, my wand at my side.  
  
'Why am I here? I thought I moved.', I thought. "What's going on?", I asked aloud.  
  
"Don't you remember? This is where you killed him.", said a voice behind me.  
  
I turned, eyes wide, but no one was there.   
  
"Who...who's there?", I asked timidly, my old fear of ghosts kicking in.  
  
"I'm not a ghost. But you should still be afraid. Don't you remember?", said the voice without an owner.  
  
I turned back around to find a man standing in front of me. He was pale under the moonlight, or maybe he was pale to begin with, and had black hair that was thinning at the top. His skin looked very leathery and old. He was wearing regular clothes. Black pants with a white collar shirt. He looked like an every day person, but for some reason he scared me.   
  
"Who are you? What are you talking about?", I asked. I felt better knowing I could see him. "Why am I here?" I tried to stand up and found that my legs ached so bad I couldn't stand. I was wearing one of Tomoyo's odd costumes. Black tights covered my legs, and when I pressed on them I felt the blood seep through the cloth. I looked at my hands as I pressed down. They looked oddly smaller and did not have some of the scars I had managed to get over the years. I looked at my legs again, and realized I was much tinier than I should have been.   
  
"Have you remembered yet?", asked the voice harshly. "I do not have all night."  
  
"Please. I don't understand...Why am I here?", I asked. For some reason my bottom lip was quivering as I said these words. 'Why do I feel like I need to cry?', I asked myself, biting down on my lip.   
  
"Look over there.", said the man pointing over to my right. I looked, and off a few yards away, was a body lying in a heap on the ground. I didn't understand.  
  
"Wha...who is that?", I asked thoroughly confused.   
  
The man gave me a sound of contempt. "You've always been dense Sakura Kinomoto. I don't know why you were ever chosen to collect the Clow cards in the first place."  
  
His tone and words made me angry. "Shut up! Listen I don't know who you are, or why I'm here but we need to help that person on the ground. I can't believe you haven't already."  
  
"YOU SHUT UP!", he screamed at me so suddenly, I was even more frightened of him. "I am sick of your stupidity! You will be killed like you killed him!" He raised his hand as if to strike me, and-  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Sakura sat up, sweating.   
  
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and held herself tight.   
  
"What was that?", she asked aloud. She tried vainly to hold on to the details of her nightmare but they had soon slipped away from her. All that was left, was the feelings she felt about the dream. The feelings were haunting. She was scared and sad all at the same time. She felt her face and realized she wasn't sweating--she was crying.  
  
She stood up and walked to the window. She could see some of the light of the new day coming over a far off hill. She looked over toward the giant clock to see it was 6:20.   
  
She widened her eyes, surprised. 'Wow. Best sleep I've had in ages, a whole 10 hours. I *was* tired. Worst dreams I've ever had though.'  
  
Sakura glanced down to see a woman opening the bakery across the street. She hadn't heard Syaoran come in last night and decided to go down and make the baker's first sale for the day, while he was still asleep. She still didn't want to talk to him.   
  
She opened her door quietly, and listened. Silence. Sakura smiled with satisfaction as she stepped out soundlessly into the hallway. She tiptoed down the hall and into the living room, going to get her coat when-  
  
"Where are you going?", said someone behind her.  
  
Sakura jumped about a foot off the ground and screamed. She turned around, eyes wide, and stared at the person who had spoke.  
  
Syaoran was over a stove stirring something in a pot. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.  
"That's rude to do that to someone.", she said gritting her teeth.   
  
"Hey, I just asked where you were going. It seems your the one being rude."  
  
Sakura straightened up embarrassed. "Can't I go out without you questioning me? I haven't even known you for a day. I was going to the bakery across the street. Are you done now?"  
  
"Done.", he said. Sakura turned around to get her coat, when he started talking again. "But, I do have a question."  
Sakura rolled her eyes, and turned back around.   
  
"What is that?", she asked.  
  
He walked over to the breakfast bar, and leaned on it with his elbows.   
"Are you really planning to go outside in that?", he asked gesturing at her clothes.  
  
Sakura looked down at once to see she was only wearing a t-shirt that went down just above her knees, and socks.   
  
"Eep!", Sakura yelped looking back at him. He was smiling, eyes still glaring maliciously. Sakura wrapped her arms around herself, and glowed a luminescent red. She hurriedly walked back to her room, and slammed the door.   
  
Syaoran went back to his cooking, laughing loud enough so that he could hear her down the hall on purpose.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura slid down the back of her door, rubbing her face as if she could get the red out of it.   
'I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. If I keep this up, I'll win an award for Most Embarrassing Moments in 24 Hours.'  
  
Sakura could hear Syaoran laughing from the kitchen. She clenched her teeth.  
'I'm not going to leave this room until he leaves.' Her stomach rumbled.  
  
Sakura flung herself onto her mattress and put her face into the rough material. Then she let out a nice long scream...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
An hour later, Sakura was leaning brokenly against her door, on the floor. Her face was squished so tightly against it, it looked like she had a deformity.  
  
She inhaled the sweet smell coming from the kitchen, opening her mouth once in a while, as if she could eat the air. She had tried to block out the ever so sweet smell that had been coming from the kitchen for near half an hour now. She had gotten dressed, and tried unpacking again.   
  
She realized she couldn't concentrate when she put her lampshade on the knobs on the window, and her curtains on her lamp. Kero had come back and left her after 15 minutes of the delicious smell to find something to eat.  
'Jerk', Sakura thought. She stood up and stared at her door. Then she had taken a deep breath and went into the hallway. She closed her eyes as the sweet smell washed over her like a wave.  
She walked mechanically down the hall, as if the smell was making her walk, luring her.  
  
She stopped in the hallway doorway, and narrowed her eyes at Syaoran who was scooping pancakes, eggs, and bacon onto a plate. Sakura lifted her head and sat down on a stool at the bar, raising a magazine to her face, trying to seem cool. She peeked around the magazine when she heard something scrape on the surface of the counter. Syaoran was pushing a plate of delicious food to her.  
  
"I don't want any, thank you." Sakura said this with an icy chip to her voice. As soon as she said this, however, her stomach rumbled very loudly.   
  
Syaoran smiled and turned away. "Your reading that magazine upside down. Now, unless you read things upside down, I'd say your hungry."  
  
Sakura looked at the magazine, un-surprised to see that he was right. She threw the magazine down on the counter and stared at the food he had set before her.  
  
"It's not poisonous.", said Syaoran making a plate for himself.  
  
Sakura glared at the back of his head and picked up a fork and tried some of the egg. Once she tasted the wonderfully delicious morsel in her mouth, she almost died from happiness.   
Then she started to shovel food into her mouth, forgetting all grace and letting herself completely submerge into the taste of the wonderful food. She felt nine years old again. She felt good. She looked up to see Syaoran staring at her. He smiled at her. She looked down and kept eating, trying to hide the fact that she liked it when he smiled.  
  
He settled himself across from her and began eating.  
  
Sakura finished, of course, before him. She felt very good indeed, and was happy to feel some strength coming back to her body.  
  
She looked at Syaoran, and now that her mind was clear, she felt a pang of pain in her heart at the sight of him. He looked so much like the real Syaoran. Same dark eyebrows. Messy, brown hair in his forever glaring eyes. He took a sip of coffee and looked up realizing he was being stared at.   
  
He brought down his cup and asked, "Do you want some coffee?"  
  
Sakura shook her head and replied, "It doesn't mix well with my pills."  
  
"Pills?", he asked suspicious again.  
  
"Oh, er, vitamins.", said Sakura covering up her slip.  
  
Seeing that he was about to ask more and not wanting to answer any questions about her 'problem', she tried to start a conversation.  
  
"So, uh, your going to Mizoku too?"  
  
"Uh, yeah.", said Syaoran not looking up from his plate.  
  
"What's your major?"  
  
"I'm not really majoring for anything. I'm studying Chinese Arts and History."  
  
"Blech. Sounds boring."  
  
Syaoran looked at her, bewildered by her statement.  
  
"Well, that's only one of the classes I'm taking. What are you studying that's gonna be so interesting?"  
  
Sakura lit up like a fire-fly. Her eyes twinkled and she sat up straight smiling.  
  
"Glad you asked. I'm going to be working in an Arts program too. Dancing. Boy do I love to dance. I'll be learning traditional and modern. Chinese style and Japanese style are both interesting, and since I know most of Japane-"  
  
"Hey I just asked what classes you were taking. I don't want to know your whole life story."  
Syaoran tried to seem cool, but he really *did* want to know all of Sakura's life story. He loved seeing her light up, and he immediately regretted saying anything that would make her face lose that beautiful luster. Her eyes had stopped glowing a bright green, and now they were back to a dark jade color. She had also stopped smiling.   
  
Sakura looked more hurt than angry now.  
  
"Hey, I was just kidding. It really does sound interesting. I would like to watch you, maybe." , said Syaoran pushing his plate away and turning to look at Sakura.   
  
Sakura smiled , and Syaoran could feel an odd, but familiar feeling come to his face. His face felt hot and for some reason he felt embarrassed. This made Sakura smile even wider. She got up and started to walk down the hall.   
  
"Thanks for breakfast.", she said disappearing down the hallway and into her room.   
  
Syaoran turned to clean up the dishes when he glanced into the toaster. His face was flushed a deep red. 'What the...?', Syaoran thought dropping the dishes in the sink and walking up to the toaster to get a better look. He saw that he was truly red.  
'Remarkable.', he thought looking towards the hallway. 'She's remarkable.'  
  
(D/N: Well, well, well. What about that? Y'know what movie I like? Coyote Ugly. Har de har har. Oh! Anyway! What about the story, huh? W-I-E-R-D. Yeah, I know. Next chapter I have a wonderful surprise for all of you, that I've been saving. I hope you enjoy it! Alrighty! Bye for now! Love always, DreaDreamer)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Why Are You Sad?

Wow! Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews! I've been working extra hard, and not doing my homework! just kidding! hahahahaha(ahem) anywayz! I wish i could write all of your names in here, but I'm afraid that FanFiction.Net might kick me off. Here's the next part for your enjoyment! (Hahahaaa! yeah right! okay! enough chatter! here ya go!)  
  
I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura. (sigh) Oh well! I can dream! hahahahahaa! (sigh) -.-;a  
  
  
I've Found You-Chap. 3  
By: DreaDreamer  
  
Sakura walked into her room feeling happy and light headed.   
  
'What a wonderful breakfast!', she thought happily.  
  
She sat down in front of her remaining bags and boxes, and started to go through them. She found the books the school had sent her and threw them in a pile next to her bed. Sakura did not want to start the day by looking at books.  
  
After an hour of cleaning, Sakura finally reached the bottom of the final box. On the bottom were picture albums. Picking them up and bringing them to her bed, she sat down and started to look through them. She started to laugh at all the funny moments Tomoyo had caught on film. She remembered each card she had caught as she looked at herself in all the costumes Tomoyo had made her wear.   
  
She started to reach the end of the book, when she saw a picture of herself and Syaoran standing together.   
  
They seemed about ten from the way their uniforms looked. It looked like one of their first pictures together.  
  
Sakura stopped smiling as she stared at the picture. She slammed the book closed and threw it into the box with the rest of the albums. Looking down into the box, she saw a book heavily wrapped in newspaper. A corner of the paper was ripped, and Sakura saw the gold edges of the Clow book shining. She picked up the box and placed it roughly in a far corner of her closet.  
  
Kero then flew in through the open window and said happily, "Guess what I fou-"  
  
He stared at Sakura. She was staring at her closet, breathing heavily.   
  
"Sakura, is something wrong?", asked Kero flying closer.  
  
"What?", asked Sakura sharply, turning around to face Kero. Her eyes were narrowed, but when she saw him, her expression lightened.   
  
"Oh, Kero. No, I'm fine. What were you saying?"  
  
Kero stared at her worried for a second before brightly telling her of what he had found.  
  
"I found a Video Game Arcade! Right here in town!!", said Kero happily. "I fell asleep in there after I had breakfast(at this Sakura glared at him)-er- I mean after the very small and measly breakfast I had-anyway! I got stuck in one of those big silver things on the roof, and it sucked me into a vent, and then I went into this big cool room full of giant video games!"  
  
At the finish of this, Kero looked at Sakura smiling wide, waiting for her to jump for joy for him.  
  
Sakura just stared at him. Finally she said, "Cool." before going to her closet.  
""Cool'? That's all you have to say about this wonderful finding?", asked Kero no longer smiling happily. Instead he looked down-right flabbergasted(ah hah hah! cool word! flabber, gasted, flabber-oh! sorry)   
  
Sakura looked at him over her shoulder.  
  
"Mmmm...yup. That's all I have to say." She turned back to her closet pushing aside her clothes.  
  
"Arrr!!! Fine! Don't talk to me! I'm going to take a nap." Kero then flew over to the bed and curled up on her pillow, his back facing her sulkily.  
  
"It's nine o'clock in the morning! Why do you need a nap?", asked Sakura in disbelief, hanging shirts in her closet.  
  
"I'm going back to that 'cool' arcade tonight. I'm gonna stay there all night after they've closed. They have so many beautiful video games...ah...", said Kero dreamily, seeming to forget he was mad.   
  
"Your leaving again tonight? Can you find dinner and everything okay?", asked Sakura closing her window.  
  
Kero sat up on the pillow and looked at what she was doing.   
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine. What are you doing?", he asked as she grabbed a bag from under her bed.  
  
"I'm gonna go look at the sights. And I still need to buy some more school supplies.", she said, not looking up as she put a wallet and sweatshirt in the bag. Sakura zipped up the bag and swung it over her shoulder.  
  
"Your not going to take me?", asked Kero hurt.   
  
"No. Don't leave this room for anything!", she warned, walking out of her room and closing the door.  
  
"'Don't leave this room for anything'", mocked Kero in a high-pitched voice wagging his finger in the air.   
  
The door opened and Sakura threw a water bottle at Kero knocking him off the pillow onto the ground.   
  
"And don't make fun of me." Sakura walked down the hall leaving a dazed Kero trying to get up from the floor.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran was sitting on the couch in the living room reading one of his school books.  
  
Sakura stared at him from the hallway. She kept seeing the picture in the album when she looked at him. There was almost nothing different about him, except maybe that his face didn't have all the boyish roundness about it, and he was much taller. Sakura once again wished she hadn't forgotten her pills.   
  
Sakura strode carefully over to the door, hoping he was too much in his book to notice her.   
  
Her hand just turned the door knob when Syaoran said, "Do-"  
  
"What?" Sakura asked angrily, rounding on Syaoran, who was looking surprised at her.  
"You wanna know where I'm going again?"  
  
Syaoran just stared silently at her, eyes wide.  
  
She glared back, squinching up her face. 'Your not the real Syaoran! Stop pretending to be!', she screamed inside her mind.  
  
"I'm going out! That's all you need to know! Geez, I thought I left my dad in Japan!"   
  
Syaoran stared surprised at her for a moment longer, before glaring at her.  
  
"I was just going to say", said Syaoran irritably, "I'm going out today, do you want a key?"  
  
Sakura yelled, "I don't care! I'm not gonna tell you!" Then she turned around and walked out, slamming the door.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran was glaring at the door, not believing what had just happened . A few seconds later, someone knocked.   
  
A grin crept up at the corners of Syaoran's mouth. He got up slowly, stretching and yawning loudly.   
  
He knew exactly who it was.   
  
Apparently, the person outside the door heard him taking his time and banged on the door with so much force, that it shook slightly.  
  
He made his way to the door and looked out the little peep hole. Sure enough, Sakura was standing there with her arms crossed, looking very sheepish, and very red.  
  
He kept the evil grin there as he opened the door.  
"Yes?", he asked Sakura glaring vehemently at him, as if daring him to make more of a fool out of her.  
  
"CanIhaveakey?", she mumbled, looking away.  
  
"What?", asked Syaoran cupping his ear, still grinning. "I'm sorry, I can't understand a word your saying."  
  
With his head turned, Syaoran didn't see that Sakura was now grinning. She had just gotten an  
idea.  
  
"CAN I HAVE A KEY?!", Sakura screamed in his ear.  
  
"Ahhhhh!!!", yelled Syaoran covering his ear and jumping back. He looked up at Sakura to see her smiling just as evilly as he had been doing a second before.  
  
"Do you want me to say it again?", she asked calmly.  
  
"No! Hold on.", turning away from the door, angrily, he went to the kitchen picking up an envelope with a key in it.   
  
"Here!", he said, thrusting the envelope towards her. "Did you know your a-"  
  
"A what?", asked Sakura glaring again at him.   
  
They stared glaring at each other for a moment, before Syaoran mumbled, "Never mind..."  
  
"That's what I thought", said Sakura grabbing the envelope roughly out of his hands, smiling. "Thanks."  
  
As she walked down the hall, Syaoran watched her, memorizing every detail of her walk. The way her legs moved, the sound her jeans made, the way her braid bounced on her back. As she rounded the corner, Syaoran turned inside and closed the door.  
  
"Did you know your a incredible person...", murmured Syaoran, leaning against the door.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran was in the apartment, busily preparing for a soccer practice in the park. Practice had begun two weeks before, and since school was starting the next day, today was the last practice. The coaches were going to evaluate the teams today in a practice game. Syaoran wasn't worried, considering he was the best player on the team and had been for the past eight years. The coaches always beamed when they saw him, knowing that he was going to win countless championships for Mizoku College.   
  
'Tch. That's all I am to them. A trophy winner', thought Syaoran angrily. He didn't like the way coaches treated him like he was better than everyone else, but he played because he loved the game.   
  
Sighing, he opened the refrigerator, looking for a water bottle. As he closed the refrigerator, with a water bottle in hand, something caught his eye on the door. It was the paper of information on Sakura Kinomoto.   
  
Pulling the paper off the door, Syaoran took a closer look at it. He had only read the name when he had first looked at it, and had forgot about it after that. He took the paper over to the counter and started to read.  
  
Name: Sakura Kinomoto   
  
Former schools: Tomoeda Elementary...  
  
*ZING*  
  
Syaoran felt a flash of familiarity at the name. But why? Perhaps he'd rivaled against the school in a game...  
  
He kept reading, but the high school didn't sound quite as familiar as the elementary had. Syaoran read through the names of the extra-curricular programs Sakura had been in. Dance, of course, cheerleading('Hmmm...', thought Syaoran), other little activities.   
  
He made his way down the list till he came to the end where it said 'Medications'.   
"Whoa...", said Syaoran out loud as he looked at the names of the pills. Some of the names on the list were of very heavy anti-depression pills.  
  
Syaoran read to himself:  
  
"Pills to be taken only in severe cases of depression.   
Side effects include: heavy drowsiness or lack of sleep may occur; lethargic body functions, and irritability may also occur..."  
  
Syaoran read a slightly long list of side effects. He took the paper into his room and placed it inside his desk. Syaoran stood in his room frowning, before going outside into the hallway. He stopped dead in his tracks as he passed in front of Sakura's room.   
  
Someone was snoring.   
  
'Didn't she already leave?', he asked himself putting his ear against the door. Sure enough someone ('or something', thought Syaoran curiously) *was* snoring. Turning the door knob slowly, he peeked into the room. There was nobody there, and the snoring had stopped.  
  
SNORK!  
  
"AAhhh!", screamed Syaoran as a snort disrupted the silence of the room. He slammed the door, and rushed down the hallway and out of the apartment.  
  
Kero looked up from the pillow he had been sleeping on. "What was that?", he asked the air around him, blinking sleepily. "Eh. Oh well.", and he drifted back to sleep, snoring peacefully.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura had walked around for five hours and was completely exhausted when she stopped under the shade of a tree in the park. She had tons of overloaded bags around her, and she was starving.   
  
'I'm too tired to move', she thought as she sat with her back against the tree. 'I'll just rest here for a few minutes.' Sakura looked around at the small park that was across the street from her apartment. 'I wonder if Syaoran, er, that guy left yet.', she thought to herself. She looked over towards a big field in the middle of the park, to see a soccer game going on. She decided to get a closer look, and moved to a tree closer to the game.  
  
All the players looked to be around eighteen to twenty, and all looked very good at soccer. But one guy looked especially skilled. Swerving in and out of players, he sped, almost flew down the field kicking goal after goal passed the goalie. Sakura felt sorry for the goalie. He just couldn't guard good enough against the guy.  
  
The guy was tall and lean, with messy brown hair that was wet at the neck with sweat. He looked familiar. She felt funny around him, as if she could sense something about him. Like he was giving off a weird feeling that gave Sakura a weird sensation that tingled through her body.  
  
Sakura stared at the guy, trying to see his face, but she couldn't because he blurred down the field so fast. Sakura watched for another fifteen minutes when there was a break, and the guy went to get a drink of water. Sakura gasped when she saw who it was.   
  
'Oh my god! That can't be him! Not again!', Sakura thought stunned.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Syaoran suddenly felt very odd. He could sense something close by. Or was it someone? He felt a strange aura coming somewhere within the park. He turned around and around and finally saw where it was coming from. A girl under a tree close to the field. She was staring wide-eyed straight at him, unmoving, and she was pale. He squinted his eyes against the hot autumn sun as he saw who it was.   
  
"Sakura?...", he whispered to himself. He strode over the field, ignoring the coaches and his teammates who were asking where he was going.   
  
"I need a quick break!", he yelled, not taking his eyes off Sakura as she scrambled to retrieve the bags that were scattered around her.   
  
She wasn't fast enough.  
  
"What are you doing here?", asked Syaoran stepping under the shade of the tree, in front of her.  
  
"I, uh, I was-um", Sakura said, stumbling over her words. She looked up at his glaring eyes, and saw a glint of curiosity. She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Why do I have to ask you if I want to be here?"  
  
"I just wanted to know", he said. He was looking at her strangely, trying to decide whether or not he should tell her that he had sensed her. He decided not to. He sat down next to her, looking out at the field. She was on her knees, rigid, while he sat with his back hunched and his arms around his legs.   
  
"So, do you think we're any good?", he asked her. Sakura stared at him with her eyes narrowed, not sure if she wanted to be nice to him.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. That goalie can't block any of your goals", she said. Syaoran looked at her and smiled. Sakura looked away, smiling herself. "He must not be any good."  
  
"Oh! That was uncalled for!", said Syaoran laughing. Sakura looked at him and started laughing too. They stared at each other for a second, before they looked away blushing.  
  
Across the field, Syaoran's teammates were watching him sitting next to the girl under the tree.   
  
"She's pretty cute. I've never seen her before", said one of the guys.  
  
"I've never seen Syaoran laugh before. And is he blushing? Wow, she must have the special touch!", laughed another.  
  
"I wonder where he's been hiding her. He better hope Caskai doesn't find out. She'd have that girl socially humiliated in a day."  
  
Sadly, after five minutes, the coach called Syaoran back.  
  
"Your master's calling you", said Sakura looking over at the coach.   
  
"Yeah. Well I better go." He stood up and started to walk away before he stopped and turned around. "A-are you gonna stay?", he asked timidly, not looking at Sakura.  
  
Sakura smiled up at him. "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I'm gonna have to turn down the offer to watch a bunch of sweaty guys chasing after a ball. Maybe another time. I have to go and see if Kero's eat-" Sakura stopped, with her eyes wide. "Uh, er, I mean that I need to go call my friend."   
  
"Yeah, of course, okay", said Syaoran. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Sakura gazing up into Syaoran's brown eyes, and Syaoran staring down into Sakura's green emerald eyes.   
  
"Their shining again...", murmured Syaoran, thinking out loud.  
  
"What?", said Sakura, looking startled.  
  
"Oh, uh, I mean, heh-", stammered Syaoran, slightly blushing again. "I, er, I-"  
  
"Li! Hurry up! We need to get going!", yelled the coach.  
  
"Oh! I gotta go, see ya later." And with that, he jogged down the field to the cat calls of his team mates:  
  
"Oh, we hate to break it up Li!"  
  
"Yeah! Who's the girl Li? Been keeping her hidden, huh?"  
  
"I can see why...", said one of the guys gawking at Sakura as she walked across the street, hauling her bags with her.  
  
"Shut up", mumbled Syaoran glaring at his friends. But inside he was smiling brightly. For the rest of the game, Syaoran played with much more fire and intensity.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura heaved her bags onto her bed crushing Kero.   
  
"Hey! Watch it!", said Kero climbing through the piles of bags. "Sakura! Sakura?" Kero looked out of the bags but couldn't see Sakura anywhere.  
  
"Unh...", someone groaned from the ground. Kero peeked over the side of the bed and saw Sakura laying on the floor with her eyes closed.  
  
"Busy day?", Kero laughed.  
  
Sakura glared up at him. "More than what I can say for you! You've just been sleeping all day!"  
  
"I need my beauty sleep."  
  
"Yeah your right."  
  
"What!?"  
  
Sakura laughed, sitting up, "Want some dinner?"  
  
"Yeah! Race ya to the kitchen!"  
  
And they raced down the hall, laughing.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At 8:00, Kero had left, and Sakura was left alone, cleaning up after her and Kero's dishes. She felt strange being all alone in the apartment. She felt slightly scared.  
  
She walked down the hall, and went into her room, closing the door. She sat down on her bed and wondered why Syaoran wasn't home yet. She frowned and thought, 'Who cares? It's better that he's not here.' She sighed, wishing she could mean what she thought.  
  
She walked over and looked out of the window, and saw people walking around outside. She sat down on the cushion, and realized how tired she felt. 'And I'm starting school tomorrow. I better try to get to sleep.'   
  
She walked to her dresser and got out her pajamas. It was the same long shirt she had worn the night before. She thought of that morning, and smiled and blushed at the same time. She changed and settled down into her bed. The minute her head hit the pillow, her tiredness washed over her and settled on her like she was under the spell of the Sleep card. She smiled at the thought. Her last thought as she slipped off into sleep, was of the smiling face of the boy she wished was real...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Again, I woke up not knowing where I was. I was lying in the same grassy area in the same park in the same town that I had grown up in.   
  
I immediately looked around for the strange man that had come so close to hurting me before. But he wasn't anywhere around me. Or he wasn't anywhere where I could see him.  
  
I looked over to the spot where the body had been laying the night before. Whoever it was, they were still lying in a crumpled pile, motionless.  
  
I tried again to stand, and let out a shout as the pain from my legs seemed to be clearer than it had before. As I looked around, I realized everything was much clearer, and I could feel some details of the world I was in. I could feel the grass, cold and crisp under my fingers, and I could see the dark colors of the night with more clarity.  
  
I dragged myself across the ground towards the body. I gritted my teeth as the pain from my legs being dragged pierced me like a thousand little knives. "Come on, come on! Almost there...", I muttered. I reached the body on the ground and fell in a heap next to them, breathing heavily, exhausted from the excruciating crawl over there. My face was sweating and I extended my trembling hand to pull the body over, when someone grabbed the neck of my costume and pulled me roughly away.   
  
I fell in a pile on the ground and screamed in pain as I fell on my small legs with the cuts oozing blood and piercing me with a throbbing pain.   
  
"Hurts does it? I know pain very well. Pain that would make you go insane with just a touch of it. I have to live with this pain. You have no idea how long I've had to live with this pain."  
  
I looked up and the strange man was staring at me, hate blazing in his eyes.  
  
"You think your going through pain now? Would you like to feel real pain? What your feeling now is just a taste of what you will feel. What I will make you feel."  
  
He strode over to me quickly. His cold, gray eyes blazed with a bitter, frosty hate that made my bones shiver.   
  
"I don't know who you are! Stay away from me! I haven't done anything to you! Get away!", I screamed frantically. "Stay away or I'll-I'll"  
  
"You'll what Cardcaptor?", the man said with a cold laugh. "You humor me. You seem fierce, but you are just a weak little girl. A small, weak little girl..."  
  
He was standing over me now, looking down at me with pitiless eyes. "I'm almost sorry I have to do this." He cocked his head at me. "No, wait. I'm not." He laughed again and slapped me so hard, it felt as if my skin had begun to burn off. I fell on my back, with a hand up to my burning cheek.   
  
My vision and thoughts were distorted as he stepped cruelly on my aching legs.  
  
I screamed and screamed as I swung at his legs with my arms, trying to get him to get off my legs that were blazing with pain. The grass around them started to turn red from the blood that was seeping out. He held firm laughing maliciously, pushing harder and harder on my legs. I threw myself back on the ground, trying not to scream.  
  
And suddenly the pain was gone. I opened my eyes and found I was in my bed. My bed in Hong Kong, with my light blue room. I was looking up at the ceiling, the sky light showed the bright moon outside.   
  
I sighed in relief and felt my legs. They were the same legs I had had when I went to sleep. No cuts, no bruises. I laid staring at the ceiling, when I felt a cold breeze come from the window.  
  
I looked up and saw a small boy standing inside the window. He was staring at me with his eyes narrowed. His green robes billowed behind him as another breeze came through the window and circled around the room.  
  
"Syaoran...", I whispered sitting up. My body felt heavy, and my mind felt thick like syrup. My mind was moving so slow. Syaoran-in-window. Syaoran-in-window. It wouldn't process the information I was seeing. "Syaoran...what are you doing here? Your...your...." I stopped talking for a moment. Tears welled up in my eyes as I said, "Syaoran, I'm...I'm so...so...sorry..."   
  
"Don't be, Sakura. I don't have much time here. I'm not the one you need to worry about. You need to-", Syaoran was suddenly looking at me with urgent eyes. He glanced outside the window and his eyes widened. He looked toward the door of my room and seemed to be listening. "Good. Your safe for now. Sakura please u-Aaahhhh!" The little Syaoran roared with pain and closed his eyes. He put his hands around his head and opened one eye. He looked at me and said, "Sakura! I have to go! Please don-" But he screamed again and jumped out of the window giving me one last glance.  
  
"No! Wait! Please don't go! Let me help you!" I jumped up and ran to the window and looked out. I saw a figure in a white shirt and black pants standing in front of the park. He stared up at me with blazing gray eyes, staring with a livid, hateful expression on his face.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Syaoran got home, it was very late. He and his friends had gone for dim sum, as it would probably be their last time together on a team till the next year. But the whole time, Syaoran was thinking of going home, but every time he tried, his friends pushed him back into a chair. When he almost fell out of his chair with a head ache, his friends finally let him go home. By the time he got away, and into the apartment, it was eleven.   
  
Going into the kitchen, he grabbed a soda and some Tylenol, and made his way down the hall. For some reason, he felt worried for Sakura. All day he had thought of what the paper had said. "Severe cases of depression..." He stood outside of Sakura's room, listening. The light was off, and he didn't hear anything. Deciding to just check on her, he opened the door...  
  
"Sakura! What the hell are you doing?!", yelled Syaoran, dropping his soda and running over to her.   
  
She was standing in the open window looking outside with half-closed eyes as the rough breeze blew across her. Her shirt flapped across her bare legs, and stray strands of her hair whipped across her face. She didn't move when Syaoran yelled, and fell limply into his arms as he pulled her gently from the window.  
  
Syaoran laid her down on his lap on the floor, with her head on his shoulder. Tears streamed out of her half-closed eyes and dripped onto his shirt. She was mumbling something that he had to strain to hear.  
  
"I'm so...so...sorry. I'm sorry. So very sorry. Sorry...so-"  
  
"Shhh", murmured Syaoran stroking her hair, and pressing her head closer against his chest. She quieted until she stopped talking altogether. Her breathing was coming out in shuddered gasps, but soon it slowed and came out regularly.  
  
"Sakura...Why are you so sad?", asked Syaoran sadly. He looked down and saw that her eyes had closed and her tears were drying on her face. He hated to see her like this. But he couldn't help that he was slightly enjoying holding her so close.  
  
He kissed her forehead and held her tight against him, and together they sat on the floor till the early hours of dawn.  
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(Drea's Notes: Wow...(sigh) That was a pretty cute ending. Thanx again to all who write to me with such nice reviews! And even if you don't review, thanks for reading my story, or just glancing at it. You all make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside! I'm sorry if this story didn't meet your expectations! I tried very hard, and I hope it came out somewhat alright. Well, I hope I can find something interesting to put in the next chapter. I'm sorry if the story is confusing, but it will all make sense in the end. Forgive my little errors as this is my first story, and I'm in a hurry to get this posted for you all! Well, till next chapter, I love you all!***)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Part One of Chapter 4

Hi everybody! (Hi Dorky Drea!) How are all of you doing? I hope you are all great, because you all make me feel great. I know last chapter really sucked out of this sucky sucky story, but I'm in a good, luvy-dovey mood today because I saw *Calvin*, so this one will hopefully be better. (*Calvin* is the fake name of my crush at school. I have changed his name for the safety of my self-confidence. Thank you) Okay, I'm sure you all could care less about my personal life, so I'm gonna start the story now. I wanna say hello to my pal Sha-chan! Hahahahahaa! Okay! Here it is!  
  
AAhhhh!!! I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura or any of the great characters! T_T I hope you all feel better now...  
  
I've Found You  
By: DreaDreamer  
  
There are some things two people can go through when they can't help but like each other. So as Sakura walked to school she couldn't help but think of Syaoran Li. She didn't know why, and she didn't quite understand what she felt about him. She frowned in frustration, and tried once again to put him out of her mind.  
  
"Hmm...", said Sakura looking at basketball jerseys, soccer balls and--She looked up. "Soccer balls...hmm...", and suddenly Syaoran Li popped up in her mind.   
  
She remembered sitting next to him in the park. He laughed as she told him that- 'Aaaarrr!', she scolded herself. 'Sakura!' She crossed the street hurriedly.  
  
After a few minutes she saw the college come into view. The place seemed deserted from the outside look of it.   
  
"Whoa...", said Sakura in awe of the huge mass of building.  
  
One tall building stood with two slightly smaller buildings on either side of it. (Imagine the college from Nutty Professor. I'm sorry if that's not how colleges look in China! I don't know how they look! ^_^;)  
  
On the highest building, there was a giant clock face, like the one by the apartment. She looked up to see what time it was, and was horribly surprised to see it was 8:25. He first class had already started and passed, and she was late to her second class.  
  
She sprinted into a run, muttering a little "Hoe!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran started to have another weird feeling. It was the kind of feeling he had had at the park the day before.  
  
He was sitting in class with a black haired, dark-brown-almost-black-eyed Casaki Aiko looking at him from the corner of her eye.  
  
'Blech', he thought turning his head towards the window. He thought about the feeling again. Outside the window, there was a bird calling from a limb on a tree. A tree...Syaoran closed his eyes and thought hard.  
  
'A tree, a tree, a...', he opened his eyes. A girl...under a tree. He looked at the door. He stared at it, no longer listening to the drone of the teacher's voice.   
  
His heart was pounding now. He felt the wierd...power? coming...coming...He knew who it was!  
  
'It's...It's...'  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura burst open the door to classroom 303, panting with her hair coming out of it's semi-neat braid. She stood for a moment looking around the classroom. Her heart was beating rapidly, but not because of the run to the classroom. She had always been a good runner. She had to be since she was a dancer.  
  
'No, this is different', she had thought running down the hall. It was like the whole world around her was going black, and she could only feel herself, and a pure, bright energy, coming from somewhere in the great black world.  
  
She no had longer cared about being late, or even if she was going in the right direction. She could only concentrate on that one force.  
  
As she stared around the classroom, color and objects came back into focus, but she could still see where the bright energy was coming from. A person in a seat in the middle of the room. A guy...Syaoran Li.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
...Sakura'  
  
Sakura was standing in the doorway, breathing heavily. Strands of hair had come out of her braid and were caught on her cheeks, and the corners of her mouth. She just stared at him with a surprised look on her face.  
  
And he stared back. Looking just as surprised, just as amazed. He didn't notice Casaki next to him glowing with jealousy, and Sakura didn't hear the teacher talking to her.   
  
Finally, Sakura noticed the teacher, now almost yelling at her. She turned her eyes onto him. "What?", she asked.  
  
The professor was quite irritated, but he said calmly, "May I help you?"  
  
"No", said Sakura plainly. Then, realizing where she was, she said, "Oh! I'm sorry! Is this room 303?"  
  
"Yes", said the man with a little less edge to his voice.  
  
"And are you Mr. Shrin?"  
  
"Yes. Prof. Shrin."  
  
"Right, okay then." And Sakura walked across the classroom, with the eyes of almost every student upon her, and took a seat in a row right beside the window. Professor Shrin cleared his throat, and the class turned their heads front, but kept glancing at Sakura.  
  
"As I was saying", began Prof. Shrin taking one last glance at Sakura before continuing, "We will be learning of the different arts and history, that make up our Chinese heritage."  
  
Sakura placed her head on her hand and looked out the window. 'Blah, blah, blah, bl-'  
  
Sakura felt eyes upon her still and looked up. Syaoran was still staring at Sakura, face back to it's regular mild scowl. She glared back at him and stared back out the window. She thanked God that he couldn't hear her thoughts. 'It's not him, it's not him, it's not him', she thought staring back out the window so he couldn't see her wide eyes.   
  
But if it's not him? Why did you sense him?  
  
'I don't know!', she answered herself. 'Hormones?'  
  
Then you *do* like him!  
  
'You, shut up!' Sakura didn't like the conversation that was going on between her and her brain. She turned her attention back to the teacher.  
  
"...And so, I hope to fill your minds with the everlasting knowledge of our Chinese heritage. And for those of you who are not Chinese, I'm glad you have taken an interest to this. So! We'll start with meeting someone new, shall we?"  
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Listen! I'm so sorry, but i've got to cut it here, cause my mom's makin' me get off, cause we're having a power shortage in California right now. Nooo!!! but don't worry, I'll have the next part up of Chapter four tomorrow or Friday. So so sorry since i know you've all been waiting for a really long chapter! Don't worry! You will have your chapter! okay! gotta go! Bye!  
*Drea  



	5. I Like You

Why, hello everyone! I want to thank you all for your kind, sweet reviews! You're all so cute! ha! So, last chapter. Yeah, I know. Short, short, short, short, short! I'm so very sorry, but my mommy made me get off, and I wasn't done with the chapter. She wasn't even gonna let me post it! But I begged, and groveled, and there you have it. So, I'm hoping this chapter will be longer. So! Remember if you can't get what you want with dignity...BEG! Nah, I'm just kidding! Okay! Enough useless chatter! On with the story!  
  
I've Found You  
Chapter 5 (or more of part 4)  
By: DreaDreamer  
  
"So, everyone pick someone they've never met, which should be just about anyone in here, and talk a little to each other", finished Prof. Shrin.  
  
'Ugh. How kindergarten', thought Sakura, as all the guys in the class started to eye her. She didn't want to talk to anyone, so she pretended to be very interested with something in her bag.   
  
"Excuse me." Sakura stopped looking through her bag, and glanced up. Syaoran was standing over her.  
  
"What do-", began Sakura but she was cut off with surprise when Syaoran grabbed her hand, pulled her up out of her seat, and gave her a firm handshake.   
  
"My names Syaoran Li. What's yours?", he said smiling.  
  
"Are you joking?", asked Sakura, shocked.  
  
"Oh! Look at that!", said Syaoran turning Sakura around to face the window. He came up close behind her and whispered, "I don't want to talk to anyone new either."   
  
"How d-did you know?", asked Sakura, stuttering with surprise from being so close to Syaoran. He smelled like soap and the fresh morning air. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent as he spoke. She was glad he couldn't see what she was doing.  
  
"I looked at your bag, and it's not even near a quarter full. You only have one book." He stopped, seeming reluctant. "And...you and I aren't so different from each other, you know."  
  
Sakura opened her eyes and she and Syaoran stood looking out the window together. He stood tall and relaxed behind her, and she the same in front of him. 'I know what you mean...', she thought silently.   
  
Sakura realized what she was doing, and seemed to snap back to reality.   
  
'Remember, Sakura! He's not your Syaoran!'   
  
The other voice from earlier came back into her head.  
  
But you can still be nice to him.   
  
Sakura thought about this. 'Yeah, I could huh?'  
  
"So", said Sakura. "My name's Sakura Kinomoto." She turned around smiling. Not a sarcastic smile. Not a forced smile. The kind of smile she had smiled the first day in the apartment, two days ago. Syaoran looked down at her, and couldn't help but smile back.   
  
"I enjoy dancing, and I hope to do a lot while I'm here in Hong Kong", Sakura said. "How 'bout you?"  
  
"I like the Arts and History. I really like Math, too", said Syaoran.  
  
"Yeah I know...", said Sakura looking at him sadly. He looked at her confused. Sakura jumped and said, "I mean- Math? It's so hard!"  
  
Syaoran looked at Sakura surprised for a moment then smiled. "That's why I like it. Y'know, not everything is as easy as dancing."  
  
"Hey, I never said dancing was easy. I bet you couldn't do one dance step without tripping."  
  
"Tch. I could dance circles and leap bounds around you!"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran laughed together, not noticing how the girls were staring enviously at Sakura, and the guys jealously at Syaoran.   
  
But the one person in class who was staring at Sakura with daggers that might have actually been able to kill, was Casaki Aino. She had known something was weird about Sakura Kinomoto the moment she had walked into the classroom. Staring at Syaoran like that. She didn't want to admit to herself that Syaoran had been staring back. She also didn't want to admit how good they looked together. They were the only two in the whole room whose hair was a different color other than jet-black. Caskai desperately wanted hair that was a different color.   
  
She was also mad because all of the guys had gone to the Kinomoto girl before her.   
  
'Eh. They only like her because she has a different color hair. Probably not even her real hair color.' (Eww! Casaki's jealous! ha ha ha!) 'You better watch it, Kinomoto. No one can resist Casaki Aino!'  
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Sakura's day from her first class had gone extremely well. She was happy to find that she shared three more classes with Syaoran. She was walking home now, almost skipping with bliss. It had been one of the best days she'd had for a very long time.   
  
Finally reaching home, Sakura raced up the stairs three at a time to call---Tomoyo! 'Oh my gosh! I haven't called Tomoyo for three days!' She hurried with the keys when someone came up beside her. Sakura looked up at the person. It was a young woman, about the same age as Sakura herself. She had come up silently beside Sakura without her noticing. She looked familiar.   
  
"Hello. My name is Casaki Aino", the girl said. "You might remember me from class this morning?", she said when Sakura continued to look puzzled.  
  
"Oh! Yes! Of course, nice to meet you!", said Sakura congenially thrusting out her hand.  
  
"Yes." said Casaki shaking Sakura's hand.  
  
She stood staring at Sakura for a few moments and Sakura stared back.  
  
Sakura started to feel awkward with Casaki just staring at her. "Um, do-do you need something?"  
  
"Glad you asked. It seems, since I've been following you," -- "What!?!"-- "that you have arrived at Syaoran Li's apartment. I just wanted to let you know since you may be a little confused. Perhaps I could help you find where you really live."  
  
Sakura had suddenly decided that she did not like Casaki Aino. Choosing to play around with her, she said, "Oh no. I'm afraid you must be confused sweetie. I'm afraid that this is *my* apartment. I don't know any Syaoran Li. I'm sorry." Sakura turned back to the door, unlocking it with ease.  
  
Casaki's mouth gaped open. She caught some sense as Sakura started to walk into the apartment. "B-b-but! This can't be yours! This is Syaoran Li's apartment!"  
  
"No thank you. No cookies for me today. I just bought some from another one of your little friends just a while ago. I'm sorry." And with that Sakura closed the door. Sakura held her breath and closed her eyes trying to keep her snickers very low. She walked forward and into someone. Sakura gasped on the breath she was holding and started to choke, then cough. She bent over gasping. She looked up into the face of Syaoran.  
  
"Stop doing that!", she gasped out, standing up. "Your going to kill me one of these days!"  
  
"Sorry", said Syaoran. She saw that he was smiling. "That wasn't a very nice thing of you to do to Casaki."  
  
Sakura started to smile too. "I have no idea what you're talking about. And, if you just watched, she wasn't being very nice to me."  
  
"Yeah, I saw." Syaoran turned his head to one side not looking at Sakura, and brought a hand around to scratch the back of his head. "So...are ya doing anything today?"  
  
Sakura looked at him slightly puzzled. The side view of his head reminded her so much of her little Syaoran. She shook her head to rid herself of the comparison.  
  
"You're not? I was wondering, i-i-i-i-", Syaoran looked down at his feet, closed his eyes and cleared his throat. "(ahem) I was w-w-w-wondering...if...ifyou'dliketoeatdinnerwithme?" He prayed silently that she wouldn't make him say it again.  
  
Sakura stood looking at him for a few seconds. Syaoran sighed internally. 'I knew it. She's busy and she doesn't know how to tell me. Why should I care? Why am I even ask-"  
  
"I'd love to." Syaoran looked up to see Sakura smiling at him. She was smiling one of her 'rare' smiles again, the ones that Syaoran couldn't help but smile back too. So he did. "G-g-great!"  
  
"Right. Okay. So I'll see you here later." And with that (I know, I say "and with that" a lot, but hey! I like it!), Sakura hung up her jacket, put her keys on the table by the door, and went down the hall like nothing had happened. Syaoran had a feeling that she knew how hard it had been for him (Not hard to tell with the s-s-s-stuttering. Syaoran: Hey! Shut up! You go all goo goo over *Caaalllllvvvvinnnnn!! haha ha haa! No! No! Shut up! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!).   
  
"Wow. She *is* incredible..."  
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Sakura sat on her bed with a sleeping Kero, winding her fingers nervously in the phone cord of her phone, waiting for Tomoyo to answer.   
  
"Hello?!", someone urgently asked from the other side of the line.  
  
"Uh, uh...I mean, is Tomoyo there?", asked Sakura thinking she had dialed the wrong number.  
  
"Sakura! Why haven't you called me? Is everything alright? How have you been? How's your new roommate? Is he nice to you? What's his name Ranzaki? How was the first day of-"  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Tomoyo calm down! I'm sorry I haven't called you, my mind has been somewhere else these past few days. Everything's fine, I'm fine. And my first day of school was great." Sakura took in a deep breath from answering all of Tomoyo's questions (skipping the ones about her roommate on purpose...), and waited. And waited. And wait-  
  
"TOMOYO? WHAT'S WRONG?!"  
  
"I'm sorry Sakura!", said Tomoyo breathlessly. "It's just you sound so different from when you left! I was expecting something like, 'I fell horrible, this sucks...'", Tomoyo stopped and went on sadly. "... 'I want to go home' ..."  
  
"Oh, Tomoyo!", said Sakura, wishing she could be back home just for her friend. "I'm so sorry!"  
  
Tomoyo said, sniffling, "You...You even forgot about me."  
  
"No! No, no, no Tomoyo! That's not what I meant! I meant I forgot to *call* you! I went shopping for gifts yesterday, and I *was* gonna call you, but I ran into Syaoran and-"  
  
Tomoyo's sniffling abruptly stopped. "You ran into who?"  
  
Sakura froze, her fingers digging into the receiver so hard she thought her nails were going to break off (those of you who are queasy, like me, it was just an expression...). "Er, uh, what I meant to say was, I saw my roommate."  
  
"Oh, Sakura!", and Tomoyo went off into a crying fit, again.   
  
"Tomoyo! It's all right! I'm okay, don't cry", said Sakura pleading.  
  
"I'm so sorry Sakura!", wailed Tomoyo, "I thought I was doing you a favor taking your medicine out of your bag! If I'da known-"  
  
Tomoyo stopped abruptly but Sakura could still hear her sniffling. Sakura was frozen, holding the phone tightly again. "What did you say?", asked Sakura, showing no emotion in her voice.  
  
"I-I-I took your medicine out of your bag, because I was so afraid that if your dad and me weren't there, and you had all that dangerous stuff in your hands, that you might, you might-"  
  
Sakura was shaking with anger. "What?! Afraid I might kill myself?! Huh? Is that what you and my darling dad think of me?! That I'm a suicidal lunatic?!"   
  
Tomoyo was hiccupping on her words. "N-No! We-We-We were-hiccup!- just trying to-to- look out for you! -hiccup!-" Tomoyo sounded so distressed that Sakura immediately felt horrible for saying such things. But she was still very angry. She listened to her friend gasping on her words of apology, and didn't have the heart to hurt her anymore.   
  
'I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it. Poor Tomoyo. She must be so worried with me not there', thought Sakura, her anger leaving her body quickly so that she felt drained and weak with guilt and sadness.  
  
"Tomoyo, I'm sorry. Don't worry, I love you and everyone there. I would never want to hurt you. I'm sorry I made you cry. Are you all right?"  
  
Tomoyo kept sniffling, but she had stopped hiccupping. "I'm sorry Sakura. We should have had more faith in you. You'd never do that to us, I know. I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be Tomoyo. It's perfectly fine. Now! Let me tell you about everything I bought!", said Sakura kindly to her friend. Tomoyo laughed and listened intently. Sakura looked at the sleeping Kero.   
  
'What a dork', she thought.  
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An hour later, Sakura got off the phone with Tomoyo when she started to smell the heavenly smell of food coming from the kitchen again. Once again, Kero had left to find some nice food to eat, and Sakura didn't tell him that today, she was invited to eat the delicious food with the maker.  
  
'I'm glad I don't have to go through torture again', thought Sakura, putting on a nice blue shirt with dark jeans.  
  
Stepping out into the hallway, Sakura looked down into the living room. She took a deep breath and walked down the hall, and into the living room, and looked over at the kitchen. Syaoran had his back turned toward her, so he didn't notice that she had entered the room. She smiled and sat at the small bar and watched him with her head on her arm. He was humming while putting things on the stove. She listened closely and heard that he was humming a Cinderella song. (Yeah, uh, I don't know if they have Cinderella in China or Japan, and if they do, I don't know if they have the same song I'm thinking of. I'm sorry. If you know a good girly song that's in Chinese, tell me and I'll fill it in. Pretend there's a _______space okay? Okay!)  
  
He turned around and put a pan right in front of Sakura. He looked up slowly to her face and saw she was smiling. His humming slowed and stopped abruptly. He had been grinning but he had now stopped and was starting to get a red, red, red, etc.... blush in his face. He turned away and pretended there was more in the oven.   
  
'Dork dork dork dork dork dork', thought Syaoran. 'Why do I care so much anyway? I've never blushed.' And even though he couldn't recall it, he felt as if he had blushed before, the same way he was doing now. With all the girls Syaoran had dated, he had never really been interested even though they were all pretty, all extremely smart, all had special hobbies and abilities, and yet none had ever interested him.   
  
'And now a total stranger who I've known for two days, and I feel like I've always known her.' Syaoran was still bent over the open, empty oven, and was just staring into it thinking.   
  
"Ahem." Sakura cleared her throat behind him, and he stood up very quickly and burned his hand on the top ceiling of the oven.   
  
"Ouch!", yelped Syaoran sucking on his hand. He turned around and looked at Sakura. She was staring at him, concerned. He felt the blush that had gone away when he burnt his hand come back into his face just a little.  
  
"Are you okay?", asked Sakura standing up from the counter, "Let me see it."   
  
"Mm-mm. I'm fi-", but Sakura had already snatched his hand away from his mouth, and had started to look at it. "Really, I'm okay."  
  
"Yeah right. Look at the size of that thing", said Sakura showing his hand to him. It was a huge welt that covered the backside of his hand.  
  
"It looks more painful than it is", lied Syaoran. 'Liar liar liar liar liar', he thought to himself. Sakura also seemed to know that he was lying. She was staring at him with her eyes narrowed in concentration. He put on a big, toothy smile. Sakura gave him a funny look.  
  
"Don't lie to me", she said looking back at his hand.  
  
"I'm not." 'Liar liar liar...'  
  
"Okay. Does this hurt?" She pressed lightly on his welt.   
  
"OUCH!!!!", he shouted in pain.   
  
Sakura smiled satisfied. "I'll be right back. Don't move and don't try to fix your hand." She left down the hall.   
  
Syaoran waited in the kitchen for a few moments feeling stupid and wimpy. He *hated* that feeling, but it seemed to happen a lot around Sakura.   
  
Sakura came back into the kitchen looking a little nervous. Syaoran felt a funny aura coming from her. Not the one he had felt all that day around her, but close to it. "Okay, I haven't done this for a while, but I think I know what to do. Come sit at the counter." Sakura led him to the counter and sat on the opposite side of him with his hand outstretched over the counter.   
  
"Look the other way", she ordered, staring focused on his hand.  
  
"Is this going to hurt?"  
  
Sakura looked up at him from his hand, and smiled. He stared back eyes wide narrowing them after a second. "Er, I-I was just kidding." Sakura found this even more funny and laughed.   
  
"You're a real dork, y'know", said Sakura laughing. "Now look the other way."  
  
Syaoran turned his head. "And close your eyes." Sakura commanded. He did.  
  
Sakura took a deep breath and took something out of her pocket. A Clow card.   
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Syaoran could feel a slight power so near him he felt as if he could taste it. His eyes opened and peeked over to Sakura as she started to mutter words he could just hear. She had her eyes closed as if she was meditating, and had a piece of paper over his hand. He looked at the--card?--in her hand closer and saw that it was a...a....  
  
'A Clow card?', Syaoran thought thoroughly confused. He listened closer to what Sakura was saying.  
  
"...Fire!  
Take away the mark which you have caused!  
Clow Card!"  
  
(If you thought this was stupid, you wouldn't believe the one I had before this. In fact, why did I even put it in here?...)  
  
Syaoran felt something less than a second fill his hand with a searing pain and he closed his eyes. And then a sudden coolness went over his hand like a wave and he opened them.  
  
He looked at Sakura and saw that the card had gone and her hand was over his. Her eyes were closed and he saw that the welt on his hand had...disappeared?  
  
Sakura's eyes opened so unexpectedly, that Syaoran didn't know whether to flinch or laugh from surprise. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and then smiled.  
  
"So. What's for dinner?"  
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Kero came in with a breeze through a window feeling defeated and angry.  
  
The arcade closed on Mondays.  
  
"Darn't", mumbled Kero angrily. "Frizzin kizzin mizzin lizzin".  
  
Kero looked around for Sakura to complain to. No one was in the room and the lights were off. 'Strange...', Kero thought. He heard voices coming from the living room, and set off to investigate.  
  
He started to fly down the hall when something bright and glowing went straight for his head.  
"Whoa!", he shouted, ducking and turning around ready to fight. But the glowing object just kept flying into Sakura's room. Kero soared into the room, searching for the glowing thing. But he couldn't find it.  
  
Something snapped inside of the closet behind him and he zoomed over to the closet to see. He saw a box on the top shelf with old, yellowed newspaper all around the top of the closet. He cautiously went closer to the box and lifted the lid fast and backed away. But nothing came out.  
  
'Strange...', Kero thought again. He got up closer to the box when he saw something extremely familiar. The Clow book.  
  
He opened the book and saw a now slightly glowing card settling in over the rest. He lifted the card and looked at it. The Firey.   
  
'Hmmm...Only Sakura can open the book, so why is she using them?', thought Kero extremely puzzled. He decided to continue his earlier investigation and flew down the hall a little more warily.   
  
Kero heard the voices louder now that he was near. He lowered himself to the ground and peeked up. Sakura was sitting next to a guy, and they were talking and laughing and...eating dinner? Kero was totally confused by now and had no idea what was going on. He didn't like that. He always knew what was going on. (Yeah, right! hahaha! Kero: Hey, shut up!)  
  
He listened closer to what they were saying:  
  
"...Hoe! No! You are so mean! I can't believe you did that!" 'That was definitely Sakura', thought Kero.  
  
"Yup, I did. It was sooo hilarious! You should've seen her face!" 'Now who the heck is that?', thought Kero.  
  
"Well that's even meaner than what I did. I'm glad you told me cause now I don't feel so bad about closing the door in her face."  
  
"You felt bad about that?"  
  
Sakura blushed at this. "Well, yeah. I mean, I know she's a brat and stuff, but I'm not a mean person."  
  
"Yeah, I didn't think you were." The guy now looked away and stuttered, "I-I mean, of c-c-course, that I had a distinct feeling that you weren't. I could feel it." Realizing that this was even worse than before he began again. "I-I-I-"  
  
Sakura was in a huge fit of giggles that Kero hadn't seen for a long time. "Stop, stop! Your killing me, Syaoran!"  
  
Kero froze where he was beginning to smile seeing Sakura so happy.   
  
'What did she say?', he thought. 'Syaoran? Did she say Syaoran?'  
  
Kero listened for a little while longer as they talked and laughed and Sakura said Syaoran a lot. Kero couldn't believe it. 'No, Sakura, no...' He flew back down the hall sadly to Sakura's room.  
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Sakura had had a wonderful night. She felt a million good feelings all at the same time. She had helped Syaoran with the dishes and now she was going to bed. He was in the kitchen watching her. She could feel his eyes.   
  
'Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip...', thought Sakura.  
  
Finally she made it to her room and closed the door smiling. She turned back around to see Kero was sitting cross-legged on her bed.  
  
"Kero! What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the arcade?", Sakura asked very, very surprised.  
  
Kero looked straight at her, right into her eyes and said something that Sakura was not ready for:  
  
"He's not Syaoran, Sakura."  
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*D/N: Wow. Finally it's finished. I'm sorry, I would've had it up sooner, except I've been punished so...you know. But I've had a lot of spare time to write it! Ahahahh haahaahaa! Okay. So! Here it is! and I think there's only 2-4 more chapters. 4 at the *very* most. Very very very most. Okay? Okay! So I'll see you soon if I can sneak on-line again! hahahahahahaa! alright. bye for now!*  



	6. Good days...

Hello everybody! Long time no see!!! I'm so sorry! I've been punished and not even been allowed to touch the computer! The only reason I was able to write back to your e-mails, is cause I checked e-mail at school! EE heeheheheee! You know what's a great show? Invader Zim! It's hilarious! hahhaha hahhah ahahaaa! Oh, man. That has to be one of the greatest! Well, next to CardCaptor Sakura, of course! Ha hahahahahhahaaaa! I know some of you asked me to e-mail you when I posted this, but I changed e-mails, and I lost your guys' addresses! So sorry! Okay, so your probably all very angry with me for leaving you with a cliff hanger for more than six weeks. So! Here ya go!   
  
Aye yi yi! No! I don't own Cardcaptors! *boo hoo* *sob sob* *squish squish* I hope your all *sniff* happy with yourselves! Just kidding! But I still don't own Cardcaptor Sakura. =.(  
  
I've Found You  
By: DreaDreamer  
Chapter 6-Good times...   
  
"He's not Syaoran."  
  
Sakura stared at Kero, what he said not sinking into her.  
  
"W-What?", asked Sakura. She felt the words roll out of her mouth heavily like lumps of cold stone.  
  
Kero stared at Sakura coldly. "I said he's not Syaoran. You killed him, remember?"  
  
Sakura felt her knees give out under her and she fell to the ground. "What?! Kero! What--", Sakura broke down into sobs.  
  
"Yes, it's hard to face facts isn't it? You've been running away from it for eight years now." He cocked his head at her.  
  
'Why does that look so familiar,' Sakura thought to herself, still sobbing. 'Kero never does that.'  
  
Kero started to talk again, bringing Sakura back to the harsh words that stung her. "And now, you must realize that Syaoran's death is your fault and no one else's. There is no running away from the truth now, no one here to tell you it was an accident."  
  
Sakura could only sob brokenly on the ground, the cold, stone words racked her insides with invisible shivers.   
  
"Yes Sakura. It hurts doesn't it? Nothing but pain, cold, cruel pain. But, I can help you. That pain, all that pain, could go away in an instant." Kero stared at Sakura, his words sneakily sympathetic. "So, what do you say?" Kero gave a feeling-less grin.  
  
Sakura stayed on the ground where she was, covering her face with her hands. Kero lost his grin and glared heartlessly down at her. He tried again.  
  
"You have nightmares don't you? Late at night, you replay the images again and again, over and over. You know the truth." Kero's words struck at Sakura's heart like a stake. Each word hammered the stake deeper into her tender heart.  
  
"No, no, no...", Sakura wailed with her hands over her ears. "It was an accident..."  
  
Kero smiled. 'Got her!', the thing smiled.  
  
"And Sakura, I understand that. No one else believes you but me. Not your father, not Tomoyo, not even Toya. But Sakura, even if it was an accident, it still happened. You killed Syaoran Li. You. But, if you just would've listened to the man from your dreams, the man who told you the truth-"  
  
"How do you know about him?", asked Sakura her red-rimmed eyes looking up at him from her cupped hands. "I never told you about my dreams."  
  
"Yes, well, I heard you one night whimpering some gibberish and-," He stopped. He had made a mistake. Kero, the 'real' Kero, had been at the arcade every night.  
  
Sakura got up from her crouched position after a moment's silence. She grabbed 'Kero' off the bed, held his arms down, and looked straight into his beady little eyes. The eyes flickered after a moment, and Sakura caught a glimpse of evil, gray, heartless eyes. Eyes that now showed an astonished look.  
  
"You listen to me, you little creep! (Ah, that's a good word.)", Sakura's eyes were blazing. The green stood out brightly from her red-framed eyes. "If you ever bother me again, I will *kill* you. Do you understand? And if you're already dead, I will kill you again. You say you know pain worse than I have ever dreamed? You haunt me again, and I will show you pain you have never dreamed, thought, or imagined." Sakura had made her way over to her window. As she was finishing her last sentence, she opened the window and held the helpless, little creature outside.   
  
"Stay away from me." Sakura opened her hand and let the fake animal drop.  
  
Sakura turned away from the window. "You killed him", was the last thing she heard from the falling monster as it disappeared into the darkness below.  
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"Hmm. It seems I have underestimated this CardCaptor", said the falling, fake, upside-down, teddy bear. (But he's not actually a teddy bear though, right? He's just a smaller version of himself? Oh, who cares.) But instead of falling into the street in front of an upcoming car, he passed through it and into a dark element of time. "She's not as weak as I thought she would be." He turned right side up and changed back into the ugly man he really was.  
  
"I suppose its time to rethink tactics." He then smiled. "Hmph. I love challenges. I will show her pain."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning, Sakura woke up with a start. The clock across from her window struck the time of 6:00 a.m.. Sakura had slept by her window all night. She turned her head around to look outside, and a sharp pain went up the side of her neck.   
  
'I'm gonna feel that for a week...', she thought rubbing her neck. She wasn't in a big hurry to get to her first class of the day. She didn't feel emotionally ready for it. She got up and walked to her bed. Just as she put the covers over her shoulder, someone knocked on her door.  
'If I don't answer, then they'll go away. If I don't answer then they'll go away...", thought Sakura over and over.   
  
*Knock*  
  
*Knock*  
  
*Knockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockkno...*  
  
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! WHAT?!", shrieked Sakura jumping out of bed and opening the door fuming.  
  
Syaoran stood there dressed cutely in a green t-shirt, with black pants. 'No! Don't look Sakura! All you see is someone rudely awakening you from a badly needed rest.' She closed her eyes and asked, "What?"  
  
Syaoran stood staring at her with a small grin on his face. Sakura looked extremely funny. o.O Since she had slept against the wall, her hair, in the back, stood up, her eyes were screwed shut, and she had a big frown. "You look like a lemon", said Syaoran laughing rudely.  
  
"Is there something you wanted besides telling me I look like fruit?", asked Sakura putting her hands on her waist with her eyes still closed. *Are lemons fruit? What if it isn't? Ha hahaha! Sakura's an idiot! Sakura: You're the one writing this story! You're the idiot! Oh....=( *  
  
Syaoran silently thanked the *idiotic*(Take that Sakura!) Sakura for having her eyes closed. He fidgeted with his hands and looked down. Even with her eyes closed he still couldn't look at her. "Uh, well, (ahem) for helping me with my, er, uh, discomfort-"  
  
"Big, painful welt," Sakura interrupted.  
  
Syaoran stared at Sakura bewildered. "Wh-what?"  
  
"The welt on your hand was not a 'discomfort', it was a big, painful wound. Say it. Don't take away from my victory."  
  
Syaoran continued to stare at Sakura confused, "Ooookay. For helping me with my big, pai-  
  
"Okay, I changed my mind, how about 'gaping flesh wound'?"  
  
"Who cares?! Alright! Thank you for helping me with the big, gaping, PAINFUL, welt on my hand! There, are you happy? Come on, open your eyes", shouted Syaoran.  
  
Sakura squished up her face even more and folded her arms in front of her chest.  
  
Syaoran sighed and leaned up against the doorframe and ran his fingers through his hair. "As I was saying! Thank you for helping me with my 'DISCOMFORT' last night, and I was thinking I could help you out by helping you get to class on time every morning."  
  
Sakura, er, *stared*, at Syaoran with her face still squelched up(squelch, what a kewl word!), and her eyes still closed. So, really, she just had her face pointed toward him. She then closed the door on him.  
  
"Come on! I don't know what your first class is, but I know most of the teachers at school certainly don't like tardiness. Especially not Mr. Shrin.", Syaoran said listening closely to the door.   
  
Silence.  
  
"Mr. Shrin can just ______ __________ ___, for all I care....", grumbled Sakura. Syaoran sighed. "Did you know that this is an *elite* school? Even if you are from a different country, they have no problem in kicking you out. Most dance schools wouldn't want to accept you with being kicked out of this school on your record..."  
  
Syaoran smiled as Sakura opened the door (with her eyes open). A mean, i-knew-you'd-see-it-my-way smile plastered Syaoran's face.   
  
"Now come on, you only have an hour to get ready."   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sakura was yawning as she and Syaoran walked onto the school campus. It looked much more busy than it had the day before. The school looked even better with people all around it. Sakura glanced at Syaoran to see he was scowling around at the school.   
  
Sakura, puzzled, asked, "Don't you like this school? I thought you said it was elite."  
  
Syaoran looked over at her and said, "That's not it..." He turned to a guy and said, "What? Haven't you ever seen a girl before?"  
  
Sakura realized that all the guys were staring at her. She smiled and waved. Syaoran, still scowling, said, "Geez, you are clueless. Are you always like this?"  
  
Sakura glared up at him, "Excuse me, but I think you should watch who you're calling names. Did you, by any chance, take a look at the girls?"  
  
Syaoran turned and looked at the girls as they passed. They were staring at him seductively, batting their eyes and licking their lips. Syaoran shivered. Sakura laughed.  
  
"See? Who's the clueless one now?"  
  
"Hmm...", Syaoran put one hand on his waist and with his other hand, tapped his chin. "No, it's still you." Sakura laughed and stepped on his foot. *Stamped* (What?) *Stamped, I stamped on his foot* (Ooookay. "Stamped", on his foot.) *Thank you*  
  
Syaoran forgot about the guys' and girls' eyes on them as they walked into the school hallway, getting caught up in Sakura.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Okay class," said Mr. Shrin addressing his class, "Now that we're two semester's into the school year (Oh yeah, Sakura and Syaoran are two semesters into the school year. FYI.), we shall begin Chinese Interpretive Dance."  
  
Sakura stood up, "Woo Hoo!" Everyone looked at her and laughed. Sakura smiled and sat down. It had been a good year for her. She had lots of new friends, but she still kept up with her old ones back home. These had been some of the best days of her life, besides the ones when she was little. And she hadn't had any dreams for months now.   
"Thank you, Miss Kinomoto, for that wonderful introduction", said Mr. Shrin with a grin on his face, "Now, back to what we'll be doing..."  
  
As Sakura looked over at Syaoran, she thought, 'It has been an amazing year.' Syaoran looked up at her and smiled. After that day they had walked to school together, he had taken a seat just across the aisle from her, and she still had her window seat. She smiled back and looked out her window. Her heart was beating rapidly, and she felt rigid and hot. No matter how she tried to hide it from herself, she truly liked this Syaoran, if he was real or not. Sakura's eyes glazed with tears. That's what scared her, what if he wasn't real? Ever since that night with the imposter Kero, she didn't know what she should believe. She didn't want to believe that he wasn't real, that this wonderful life she had found was all just a dream that would wisp away when she woke up. She wiped her eyes on her hand without anyone seeing, and kept them to the front of the class.  
  
"...so this should be fun, even if you're not the most talented dancer in the world. And in Ms. Kinomoto's case, even if you are. We shall start next week, and like any project that we have done, we need supplies. You will need comfortable clothes to work in, and comfortable shoes. Nothing sleazy or trashy(Giving Casaki Aino a meaningful stare), but conservative and elegant."  
The bell rang as he finished. "Okay, so next week on Monday! We'll be in room 436."  
  
As Sakura and Syaoran walked out, Casaki caught up with them.   
  
"Syaoran I was just talking to Mr. Shrin, and he was saying we can work in partners-"  
  
"No he didn't," Sakura said peeking over Syaoran. Sakura was on one side of him and Casaki on the other. Casaki scowled at Sakura. "How do you know?"   
  
"Because he went over it in class, 'Absolutely no partners'."   
  
"Well, I was thinking ,SYAORAN, that if you'd be my partner, then we could convince Mr. Shrin to let us work in partners."  
  
"Why would you think Mr. Shrin would do that for you?", asked Sakura, interrupting again.  
  
"Because he likes me."  
  
"Nuh uh."  
"Yeah huh!"  
"Nuh uh" "Yeah huh!" "Nuh uh!" "Yeah huh!" "Nuh uh!" Syaoran stared at the two girls bickering in front of him and shouted, "Um, Casaki, even if we could work in partners, I only have one person I'd like to work with. And that person isn't you. See you in Math!"  
  
And with that he led Sakura(who had an open mouth) away, and left Casaki(who had an open mouth) standing alone in the hallway.  
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As Sakura sat in her English class, she thought about who Syaoran might want to work with. All the girls in class liked him. 'Heh. All the girls in the school like him,' thought Sakura bitterly. It made her insides cringe to think Syaoran might like a girl in class. But why? He had a right to like girls. 'I'm just his friend. That's all he thinks of me as', Sakura sighed. 'But I still wonder...'  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran and Sakura were walking home. Syaoran was talking about how he was gonna do a whole bunch better than Sakura, but Sakura wasn't really listening.   
  
"So, ya know, don't feel bad when I get an A++ and you only get, y'know an A."  
  
"They don't give A++'s", said Sakura absent-mindedly.  
  
"Aha", said Syaoran tapping Sakura on the nose lightly with his finger, surprising her and bringing all her attention to him. "They will when they get a load of me." Sakura rubbed her nose smiling.   
  
"And wait till y-"  
  
"Syaoran? Who did you want to work with? If we were allowed to have partners, I mean. Cause I've been thinking about it all day, and there's a bunch of pretty girls in our class, and, well, not that you'd necessarily go only for the pretty ones, because there's a bunch of talented dancers in class, I'm sure-"  
  
Syaoran looked at Sakura confused for a moment, before finally catching on to what she was talking about. 'Geez Sakura, you are clueless', he thought to himself grinning. Sakura continued rambling, seeming to forget he was there, "And I'm sure the boys in our class are good too,  
but-"  
  
"You've been thinking about it all day?"  
  
Sakura looked up at Syaoran with her eyes large. He was grinning at her. "D-did I say that?" Sakura looked away and said, "W-well I mean, of course, that the thought crossed my mind once or twice, or-"  
  
"I'll give you hints. How 'bout that?" Sakura smiled and said, "Okay", when she was really thinking, 'Oh no...'  
  
"Well, she has beautiful hair, bright, happy eyes, can dance very, very well, and she's from another country."  
  
Sakura thought for a moment. Than looked up at him with wide, sad eyes with a weak smile. "I know who it is...The girl, Kellynn, from America. (haha! That's for my bud Kellynn. Her name's Kellynn. And I bet you a quarter I'm spelling her name wrong...) Yeah, I heard she dances good an-"  
  
"No! Sakura, no! That's not who it is! Here, stop a minute."  
  
Sakura stopped and faced him, her eyes still sad. They were at the beginning of the park sidewalk, and no one was around. Syaoran smiled at Sakura and ran his hand across her hair down to the end of her braid. Sakura's eyes widened and she gasped internally as she felt his hand against her back. He brought the tip of her braid over her shoulder and placed it so it ran down the front of her shirt. "She has beautiful hair...", he said as he moved his hands to her face. He cupped one of her cheeks with his hand, "She has a kind face, the most beautiful eyes that will ever grace this world, and..." He brought his mouth close to her ear. "...the most painful punch a girl could have!"  
  
Syaoran ran away laughing down the sidewalk, and across the street to the apartment building. Sakura stood dazed staring ahead of her. o.O She started to twitch her fingers as happy annoyance ran through her body. She ran after Syaoran smiling and shouting, "And how do you know this girl? She sounds too good for you!"  
  
Syaoran was at the top of the stairs. "You'd think that wouldn't you? But I didn't mention she's skinny as a twig, doesn't know when to shut up, and she's absolutely and totally clueless!" He continued running and snickering.  
  
"Well, it seems to me that you're the one with the mouth that's too big for your own good! So, I'll do you and her a favor and shut you up!", yelled Sakura laughing and running up the stairs after him. By this time people were staring, but Sakura didn't notice or care. The people on the street laughed and continued on with what they were doing. But in the bushes, by the spot where Sakura and Syaoran had just stood, someone else was laughing, but for different reasons.   
  
An ugly, pale, man with balding black hair crouched in the bushes. "So, that's how I will get you Cardcaptor. This will hurt you more than I could've hoped for..."  
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Drea's Notes: Well! I hope that was worth the, what was it? Seven week wait! Don't worry, I'm off punishment now, and it's summer vacation, so I'm positive you won't have to wait this long for another chapter! Well, unless I get punished again...but! I'll try real hard to be good! Well, I hope this chapter was good. We're drawing to a close on this story, and I just want to say: You need to watch Zim on Fridays at 9:00 p.m. on Nickelodeon! Funny as heck! he is! So, I love you all, and thank you so so so so sosososososoossosososossososososososo so much for your kindness and patience! I love the Moulin Rouge! Okay, and *Calvin* sucks and I don't like him anymore. FYI. Hi Sha-chan! I'll write to ya soon! Okay, I'm done...  
  
*DreaDreamer   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. The Past Revealed

Hiya! Alrighty, time to get this story crackin' so we can get to the good stuff! CardCaptor Sakura: The Movie came out this month! woo hoo! I'm gonna go buy it today! Yikes, I haven't written in a-while huh? But here it is, and I hope you enjoy it! ( I started this story, like, months ago, but I kept erasin' and re-writin' until I got fed up. Sorry to make all you nice people wait so long!)  
  
Okay, just about everyone in this story belongs to CLAMP. And CLAMP can have the ones that aren't theirs cause most of them are jerks. Like Casaki and the evil bald guy and Mr. Shrin...  
  
I've Found You  
By: DreaDreamer  
Chapter 7-The Past Revealed  
  
Sakura watched as Kero lay with his head tucked under his tail as he lay asleep on her bed. He had come back to her room a few days after the imposter Kero, a few months ago. She didn't know where he had gone or why he had left for so long, and she didn't ask. She greeted him with her brightest smile because he had looked as tired and beaten as she had felt inside. And since he had come back, he had hardly left her except when she went to school or out to the store. She kissed him on the head and fell asleep with the full moon shining brightly across her and Kero, both dreaming sweetly.   
(Useless paragraph, I know, but doesn't it make ya feel good?...)  
  
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Sakura got up in the morning to see the sun shining through her window. They were nearing the end of spring and the beginning of what looked to be a beautiful summer. But everything was beautiful here. Syaoran popped up in her mind as he usually did and she smiled. Everything...   
  
She swung her legs over the side of her bed and opened the window so Kero could fly out when   
he woke up. The cool morning air washed over her and made her feel great. She felt so indescribably happy that she didn't want to do anything but just stare out the window. However, though Sakura was nearly bursting with happiness, she couldn't help but feel a tiny shadow at the edge of her mind. She heard something in the living room and she smiled, putting the shadow out of her mind.   
  
After throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt, she bounded out of the room and walked into the living room. Only, when she looked around, she couldn't see anyone. A slight shiver ran up her back, and she took a step backward.   
  
"Syaoran?", Sakura said with a slight tremble in her voice. "Syaoran, are you in here?" She took another step backward and felt something cold that made her arms rise with goosebumps. She spun around and felt a cold, sharp pain strike her across her face. Everything went blank around her for a few moments, and then she felt a jarring pain in her shoulder as she hit the floor and skidded across it only stopping when the couch stopped her with a hard thump.   
  
Sakura felt disorientated for a few seconds when she became aware that her vision was blurry. Her eyes were tearing, but she didn't know why until she felt a cold/hot (oxymoron, but I suppose it'd be like a whole bunch of dry ice on yer face) pain race across her face making her curl her body into a ball and cry out. She heard someone laugh and the shadow that had now made it's way back into the front of her mind formed into a cruel, pale face with dim, watery eyes. She forced herself to open her eyes wider which sent even more painful spasms down the side of her already pain-filled cheek.   
  
Sakura opened her eyes as wide as she could manage without getting nauseated with pain, and she looked away from the ugly man standing laughing at her near the hallway, emanating icy coldness. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for something, anything, that could help her. She looked back toward him, and he was now just chuckling softly and moving toward her. She backed up as far as she could, but the couch was right there, and she couldn't seem to make her legs work the way she wanted to.   
  
He stopped in front of her, and stood looking down at her with a cruel smile fixed on his smug, evil face. Sakura stared up at him with wide, frightened eyes. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling.   
  
"You're all alone and no one can help you", said the heartless, vicious creature in front of her. Then she felt a jolt of pain run through her body, and then she was in darkness...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Mmm...", I mumbled as I tried to open my eyes. My body ached as if I had fallen down several flights of stairs. Although I couldn't say what falling down flights of stairs would feel like, I imagined this is how it would be.   
  
I sat up as best I could, not surprised to see I was in my hometown park, in my strange Tomoyo-made costume. I was in the same place I always found myself whenever I woke up in this strange--world? Dream? Whatever, all I know is that it's getting very annoying...I thought to myself as I shook with fear...  
  
It was silent all around me and I didn't know what to do, as always. I looked everywhere around me and scanned the trees that seemed dark and dense across the street. The slide and play equipment that had been so homely and comfortable were now dark and ominous. My eyes caught sight of the lump that was a boy and an icy terror seemed to grab my heart...I had forgotten, or I mean I had pushed it out of my mind, what I had seen in my dreams those few months ago.   
  
I crawled as fast as I could (my legs being useless), my fingers digging hard into the dirt, my young, untrained(D/N: Sakura's in a 5th graders body, remember? 'Course ya do...)muscles straining to pull myself as fast as I could...before that man came again and stopped me before I could help Syaoran. My legs ached and I bit my lip to keep from whimpering. I wanted to show as little weakness as I could to the evil man. I felt like I was racing him to Syaoran...and I _had_ to win this time.  
  
I fell next to Syaoran's body, my arms shaky and exhausted, my breaths coming out in short gasps. But there was no time to rest, oh no, I had won the race but only because the man had let me and I did not dare forget this. I was on his terms now, in a world that may have looked familiar but was different and evil from anything I had ever known.   
  
My hands were dirty and there was grime and grit under my fingernails as I shook Syaoran's body and tried to pull him over. I managed to and when I saw his pale face with blood leaking from the corner of his lip, I pulled back from him with a cry and a hand to my mouth. I don't know what I had been expecting to see, but I certainly wasn't ready for what I saw....something so real...  
  
...and that's when he struck. While I was in my most vulnerable condition, he came upon me like a lion upon a fallen animal. I saw his shadow because the moon was bright in a ghostly, unreal way, and he sent me sailing through the air. I landed in a jumble after a few bounces. The pain seemed to be intensified here in his world, but it was partly numbed after the shock of seeing Syaoran...so powerless...so weak...  
  
I looked up at the wicked man with my eyes tearing, more from seeing Syaoran than pain, and I noticed that he was disheveled and tousled. His little bit of greasy hair was in disarray on his forehead, and it almost made me laugh at how much it looked like a bad comb-over. His eyes were so wide that his yellow retina seemed like little dots in the middle of them.   
  
His face was glistening from sweat and as he came toward me with a look of pure hatred, kicking Syaoran slightly in his unmoving legs which made me wince, I saw that he was so pale that his face seemed to be glowing...or maybe it was the moon...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran got up in the morning to see the sun shining through his window. They were nearing the end of spring and the beginning of what looked to be a beautiful summer. But everything was beautiful here. Sakura popped up in his mind as she usually did and he smiled. Everything...   
  
He swung his legs over the side of his bed and sat there thinking what he should make Sakura for breakfast once she woke up. The cool morning air that was invisibly circling his room,  
washed over him and made him feel great. He felt so indescribably happy that he didn't want to do anything but just sit and revel in his happiness. He had moved away to experience the world and get away from his overbearing mother...and it turned out to be even better than he had expected. However, though Syaoran was nearly bursting with happiness, he couldn't help but feel a tiny shadow at the edge of his mind. He heard a noise come from Sakura's room and the thought was pushed out of his mind.  
  
After throwing on some jeans and a shirt, he walked out of his room with a bounce in his step and knocked on Sakura's door. He didn't hear anything at first, and then he heard a slight, muffled sound that made Syaoran feel cold.  
  
"Sakura?", asked Syaoran, slightly urgently. Now he heard absolutely nothing and he opened the door, hoping to see Sakura getting groggily out of bed with a smile on her face for him...  
  
...but she was laying in her bed, her face ashy and a shiver ran through Syaoran's body as the dark shadow came back to the front of his mind.   
  
He ran over to her shouting, "Sakura! Sakura!", but she did not stir even slightly. The little yellow stuffed animal that made him feel as though it were always staring at him, was laying against her arm, and when he went to move it, it's face looked slightly...worried... But Syaoran had no time to think about it and he moved it out of the way to a chair that had clothes sprawled upon it.  
  
"Sakura!", shouted Syaoran again even though he expected nothing to change in her. He touched her face and it was so cold that Syaoran felt like he was touching ice. He couldn't visibly see her breathing, so he put his ear to her mouth, but he felt nothing. Grabbing for her wrist to take her pulse, Syaoran stared at Sakura's face...there was something odd, besides the fact that she wasn't moving, her face was pale, and...there was no pulse.   
  
"Oh no, Sakura...you can't do this!", Syaoran cried out, putting his hands right-over-left over on her chest. He began to perform CPR on Sakura and between every rest, he gave her mouth-to-mouth(and I don't mean kissin'! eh heh heh...err...).   
  
After a few times, Syaoran felt a slight vibration, and then an irregular rhythm, and then a steady, but weak, heartbeat. Syaoran collapsed on his knees next to Sakura's bed, giving a shaky laugh. He quickly recovered himself though, knowing that something was very wrong. Sakura was so vibrant, and healthy. Or at least that's how she had seemed these past few months. A memory of a list of pills on the refrigerator, Sakura's slightly crazed look that first night as she had searched through her bag until he had walked in...she hadn't found them, had she?   
  
"Sakura, is that what you need? Pills? But how could you have gotten along all these months? You were fine yesterday...", and then the Syaoran felt that feeling again, as though the dark shadow across his mind had an ever darker, more evil lining in it. Syaoran tried to grasp it, but he couldn't. "Oh, Sakura...what should I do?" He put his head down, his hand holding her cold hand tightly, as if he could pass some of his warmth into her.   
  
"Well...I might have an idea, er, I mean-"  
  
Syaoran shot his head up so fast that his neck cracked(in a good way). His eyes darted madly around the room: at the door, the closet, the window-but there was nothing.   
  
"Who's there? Come out, now!" Syaoran rose to his feet and pressed himself close to the bed as if to protect the precious contents it held.  
  
"Um, I'm right here...right down here..." Syaoran looked down at the chair next to him and saw two black dot-eyes staring up at him from a yellow face. "Now, don't hurt me...I'm Sakura's friend! My names Kero, and I want to help her just as much as you do...sir."   
  
Syaoran's face had gone through a sequence of different emotions: angry and protective to shocked and surprised to scared and bewildered(another good word) to angry and protective again. All while Kero gave his short introduction.  
  
Syaoran picked Kero up with one hand around his neck. "Aaaahhh! Don't hurt me, don't hurt me!", shouted Kero, waving his arms and legs around wildly.  
  
"What in the hell are you?! What are you doing in here? I _knew_ there was something weird about you! The way you flew around that first night, heh, old batteries my(Hey! There could be kids reading this! Watch your language! Syaoran: Shaddup! Hey! Don't speak to me that way! Why I oughta *&$%@!...oops...)"  
  
"Aaahhh! Stop it stop it stop it! Okay, okay, ya see? You're right! I am weird, but now we gotta help Sakura, and afterwards you can hurt me all you want, 'kay?!"  
  
Syaoran stared at Kero an arms length away, still struggling wildly. It was quite comical, and Syaoran felt inside that this creature could have done no harm to Sakura.   
  
"Alright", said Syaoran slightly calmer, placing Kero back on the chair, "So explain."  
  
And Kero did.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
Kero started from the part of Sakura's childhood when she had lost a dear friend in an accident that she had felt was her fault, and about her spiral downwards in the next eight years. He didn't say who this friend was, or how he had been killed, and thankfully Syaoran didn't ask. Kero explained about Sakura's deep depression, the nightmares that haunted her every time she slept, the many bottles of pills that seemed to take away from her special shine every day.   
  
And then he spoke of her decision to move to Hong Kong for college, her family taking the pills out of her suit cases, and her climb up the ladder, finally, to recovery and a beginning to a new life. Kero had given Syaoran the condensed version of Sakura's past and had conveniently left out Syaoran as a part of it, and her role as a Cardcaptor.  
  
After Kero had finished, they sat in silence for a few minutes. "Oh...", Syaoran finally managed to say. "Mm hmm...", Kero responded, nodding his head. A few more minutes of silence, and then Syaoran said, "Sakura's a Cardcaptor isn't she?"  
  
Kero looked up at Syaoran surprised, thinking of a way to deny it, and then Syaoran began to speak again, seeming to read Kero's thoughts. "Don't try to act like she's not...I knew...I _think_ I knew from the beginning...somewhere deep in me, I knew. But I couldn't believe it, so I didn't try. But one night, we had dinner and I got burned, and she...I knew then, but I still pushed the thought away." Syaoran looked up at Kero's still surprised face and back at his hands that still held Sakura's. "Don't look so surprised. As a Creature of the Seal, you should know about the Li family. We're Clow Reeds descendants after all. Mother reminded me everyday...and of how I had failed." This last part was said with some bitterness Kero noted. Then Kero spoke up.  
  
"Oh...you mean when you didn't get the clow cards, or when you, um...", Kero trailed off at the last part not wanting to say it.  
  
Syaoran was quite confused now and said, "What? I never collected the clow cards. What are you talking about? The cards were in Japan with Sakura weren't they? I mean, she has them and they obviously listen to her. And you. Why would you be with her if she wasn't a Cardcaptor?"  
  
Kero was shaking his head. "No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. Of course Sakura's a Cardcaptor..." Syaoran was starting to get impatient now.  
  
"Then what are you saying?"  
  
"I'm saying, how could your mother be mad at you for failing when you're dead?!"  
  
Syaoran was about to open his mouth to say something, but after hearing Kero's blurted outburst, his mouth just kind of hung open as the words he was going to say seemed to disappear. Kero looked slightly sorry to have said it, and his little paws covered his mouth. He looked over at Sakura and was almost glad she was unconscious because she would have killed him for saying such a thing.  
  
Syaoran had closed his mouth and was just staring at an invisible spot on the wall. "What did you say?" Syaoran said this quietly, but there was so much hurt in it that for a moment Kero was too shocked to speak. Then he said somewhat squeakily, "I-I-I s-said..." But Kero didn't want to repeat it. So Syaoran said it for him.   
  
"You said, I died. Why would you say that?"   
  
So Kero explained again. This time, not leaving anything out.  
  
"The lights had been flickering on and off all day. Sometimes just for a second so you wondered if it had really happened, and sometimes for as long as an hour. The power companies were going ballistic trying to figure out what had happened. I said it must've been a clow card, but Sakura shook her head and got this look in her eyes and she said: 'No, I don't think so...there's something not nice about this feeling.'" Kero smiled after saying this and Syaoran would've too but he had seemed to lost all feeling in his body except his hand which was still holding Sakura's. Kero went on. "And besides, we had all the clow cards, there was no way it could've been one. But if it wasn't a clow card, what could we do about it? So we just went along with the flow of our everyday, happy lives." Kero stopped seeming to think about this. After a few moments he continued again.  
  
"That night the lights went out all over Tomeoda. Only Tomeoda, so it had to be a problem with the power companies, right?" Kero was no longer telling the story, but re-living it. He wasn't merely talking, he was making a window into the past. "Toya had Yuki over, but they went to see if they could find out what was happening from anyone outside. I knew Yue felt something too, the way it showed through Yuki. He was pale and his eyes were worried. Sakura's father was at the college helping his assistants to regain lost data on the computers. Tomoyo was over visiting and keeping Sakura company because she was terribly frightened." Kero was smiling again. "I told her I could protect her no sweat, but she said, 'Oh, but Kero your so tiny! A ghost could come in and just sit on you!'" Kero laughed at this and Syaoran couldn't help but see that the little guardians face looked faded and old for a few moments.   
  
"Anyway, she called the brat-", Kero looked up at Syaoran, as if he just realized he was there, "you- because she said that even if you didn't show it, you must be scared to be all by yourself with the lights off." And now Syaoran smiled, getting caught up in Kero's picture perfect memory. "Instead you told her you were going to the park because this power outage wasn't normal and that your derivator(is this the right word? I hope soooo.....) was pointing straight towards King Penguin park. As soon as Sakura hung up with you, she said, 'We're going to King Penguin park.'" Syaoran had started feeling weird towards the first part of Kero's story, and as the story progressed he kept feeling as though his thoughts were being muffled by a blanket. Everything in the room except Kero's voice and Sakura's slightly warm hand, seemed fuzzy and unreal. Everything Kero said sounded vaguely familiar, like when you have a dream and feel as though you've had the same one before and can't quite remember if you did or didn't. Deja vu. Kero continued.  
  
"Tomoyo treated it just like we were going to capture a card. She knew we didn't have time to go back home for a new costume (she still had tons of outfits just waiting for Sakura to try on), so she picked one from Sakura's closet that Sakura had kept. And there was a rip on one side of the dress, but it just blended in with all of the other ruffles on the dress. We split up with Tomoyo at the corner of the sidewalk and Sakura and I went to the park by ourselves. Now that Tomoyo was gone, Sakura's worry was on her face and I realized she had called you for more than just to give you company. Sakura always surprises me, she knew even before I did that the lights going out were more than coincidence. You arrived at the park right when we did, and you looked just as worried as Sakura." Kero took a pause and looked up at Syaoran to see if he was still paying attention. He was, of course. "The strange thing was, there was nothing there. I still felt the same I had as before-a slight feeling of some magical power-but you and Sakura looked like two puppies who had heard a dog whistle. Your eyes were narrowed(of course _yours_ were, but so were Sakura's), and they were darting all around everywhere. I didn't understand what was happening at all with you two so I asked what was wrong with you guys. You two just told me to be quiet, so I did. I was angry and mumbling to myself though, and the next thing I knew I was being pummeled into the trees, head first into a tree, and it went black. When I came around, there was police sirens everywhere and an ambulance, and Sakura was clinging to your body, her legs all scratched up and bleeding a lot, and some people were trying to pull her off. And the strange thing was, you weren't moving, you were just sort of...limp. They say you were dead even before they got you in the ambulance." Syaoran felt a shiver run up his back as Kero said this and looked up at him. "And that's all I know."  
  
Syaoran just kept staring at Kero expecting more. "What? That's it? What happened out there?! What did Sakura say happened?"  
  
Kero was shaking his head. "She never said anything about that night. Oh, believe me, her family tried. It came to a point where everyone was angry at everyone. Toya kept pushing her to tell, her father kept telling him not to, Sakura would just sit there watching them argue till she'd run up the stairs and watch from the top. Finally, Toya would leave slamming the door, but he'd always come back in a couple days. That's how it was for the five years I was there. Then even _I_ left, but not because I wanted to. Sakura told me it was because she didn't have the time to feed me or watch out for me anymore and that Tomoyo would be able to take better care of me." Kero looked very upset as he said, "But I knew it was because she couldn't bear to have a reminder of the clow cards around anymore. She had packed up all the cards and old costumes she'd had and put them in the back of the closet. Even her necklace was put at the very bottom of one of her drawers and she locked it in there and hid the key."  
  
Syaoran was still in disbelief. He couldn't believe that no one knew what had happened. "What about that girl Tomoyo? Wasn't she supposed to meet you guys at the park? What did she say happened?"  
  
"She said she got there and Sakura was just hanging onto you and sobbing and you weren't moving. She called the ambulance on her cell phone."  
  
"What about the police? What did they say happened?"  
  
"They just said that your body went through a terrible amount of trauma and stress, and the cuts that were on you were said to be unable to cause death. They said your body just kind of stopped working. There was some talk that maybe you and Sakura had been involved in some weird sort of cult(D/N: Yeah right! Their only in 5th grade!), being the way you were dressed and everything, and that maybe you had poisoned yourself, or Sakura had." Kero said this with a sort of edge, angry at the thought of Sakura being accused. "But the tests they did all came out clean. You were a kind of mystery. Everyone thought Sakura had done it, but there was no proof, so they left it unsolved. I think Tomoyo's mom had a part in making the police leave it alone."  
  
Syaoran couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't like this story at all. That couldn't have been him! He had spent his whole life _training_ to go to Japan. But his cousin had gone instead because he, Syaoran, had failed. He hadn't been strong enough to go. That's what his mother had always told him. His thoughts froze for a moment and rewound back to the last one.   
  
"That's what mother always told me...", Syaoran mumbled.  
  
"What?" Kero was staring at Syaoran. He had just been sitting there staring down at the ground until his head flicked up and he started to mumble to himself. Kero thought that maybe all this news was too much for the poor kid.  
  
"Hey, kid. Don't go nuts on me now, I need you to help me with Sakura. Remember?"  
  
Syaoran had a slightly crazed look in his eye as he looked up at Kero. He looked like he was pulsing with anger, his eyes almost narrowed down to slits.   
  
"I know someone who can help."  
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Hey everybody! Well, now that this is out, see ya in a few months. Just kidding! Ha ha! I'm sorry this is kind of wordy, and the paragraphs kind of turned into double-double paragraphs. I've got the ball rolling so I don't think writing the rest will be so hard anymore. I can't thank you enough for having so much patience with me and my story! You're all very cool! I watched the Cardcaptor Sakura movie today! Oh man, it was pretty kewl yeah. I'm glad I finally know Li's moms name. Oh yeah, I got the Jimmy Eat World CD...it rocks! ah hahaha! go buy it! ahahaa! See you soon!(real soon I promise) okay bye bye!(I have to do a stupid Hobbit essay. blech! If only the words for that came as easy as this, huh? ) Love you lots!  
  
*DreaDreamer 


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